•Allegation of unilateral orders without FEC approval persists
By Yunusa Abubakar
The order for speedy implementation of the new civil service rules, to specifically disengage some cadres of Permanent Secretaries and Directors is raising tension in the rank and file of the civil service.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoSF), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, had on July 27, 2023, instructed Permanent Secretaries, as well as the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Auditor-General of the Federation (AoGF) to implement immediately, without further delay, the compulsory retirement of Permanent Secretaries and Directors who have put in eight years in the civil service. This has sparked a raging discontent in the Civil Service.
Sources in the Civil Service have objected to claims that former President Muhammadu Buhari and the Executive Council of the Federation (FEC) had given approval to the compulsory retirement of Permanent Secretaries and Directors who have put in eight years in the service.
Already, workers in the medical profession had embarked on a week-long warning strike protesting among others what they described, allegedly, as an obnoxious unilateral policy by the HoSF.
At the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, many of the affected and serving directors are feared to be drafting petitions to Dr. Esan to review the tenure policy which they argued lacked basis, citing the non-availability of circular to back up such policy which they said suggests a unilateral action.
Checks have suggested that the disgruntled civil servants may have a case, in the absence of a proof that either the former President Buhari, or the Federal Executive Council had given approval to any tenure policy in the approval obtained for the Revised Public Service Rules and Duty Tour Allowance.
For instance, on August 27, 2021, vide four-page memo with reference number EC(2021)238, in a memo sent to the Federal Executive Council titled “Approval for the Revised Public Service Rules, 2021 and Duty Tour Allowance”, there was no mention of tenure of Permanent Secretaries or Directors mentioned anywhere.
Similarly, the nine-page conclusions did not give vent to the order.
Findings also showed that the revised PSR contains 17 chapters, spanning across Appointment and Leaving the Service, Prescribed Examination for Confirmation (virtual exams), Emoluments and Increments, Performance Management System, Reward for Outstanding Work, Virtual Meetings and Engagements, Petitions and Appeals, Allowances, Compensation, Inventions, Compensation and Insurance, among others.
Highlight of the difference with the 2018 Public Service Rules included Performance Management System which replaced the old Annual Performance Evaluation Report (APER); Reward for Outstanding Work to Institutionalize Reward Recognitions Scheme (R&RE) in the Federal Public Service; Training and Capacity Development to provide more opportunities for continuous training and capacity development for enhanced service delivery, etc.
It was gathered that the recommendations by the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) were sent to the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning (MFB&NP) and the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) for “a no-objection.
Consequently, FEC approved new DTA ranging from N10,000 up from N5,000 for salary grade levels 01 to 04; N25,000 up from N12,000 (N16,000) for salary grade levels 14 to 15, ending at N80,000 up from N35,000 for Ministers, SGF, HSF and equivalent.
An innovation of the approved 2021 PSR is the introduction of Paternity Leave, to allow male workers bond with their newborn children or adopted children of no more than four months old. This particular leave was solely enjoyed by the female workforce, which the approved PSF introduced.
These were the key highlights of the HSF memo presented to the FEC and approved in 2021, which did not include eight year tenure, now suspected to have been surreptitiously inserted, thereby raising some concerns among the civil servants.
