Buhari, Permanent Secretaries And Attrition In The Civil Service

Not many would dispute that Nigeria has suffered and continues to suffer from a deterioration in service delivery by the civil service, a malaise which has manifested in red-tapism, weak accountability, low professional standards, waste and corruption, poor productivity, and bloated staff structure.

The civil service is the engine of government machinery, and without it functioning at optimum levels service delivery is in peril. Civil Service as a government institution plays important part in ensuring that government policies result in tangible services for the people. In fact, no government can function without the body of professional civil servants.

Thus, the recent decision of the federal government to suspend Winifred Oyo-Ita as head of service of the federation and appoint Folashade Yemi-Esan in acting capacity was right on cue. Buhari’s suspension of Oyo-Ita, believed to have the confidence of the president, is a pointer to the direction the Administration wants to take the civil service.

Oyo-Ita is currently under corruption investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the president believes it may weaken her effectiveness in office, even though she had denied any wrongdoing. But it underscores the importance the Buhari administration attaches to the civil service and the sanctity of its integrity.

But the more cheering news is Buhari’s decision to extend the tenure of some permanent secretaries yet to reach the age of retirement but who had completed the 35 years of service. A statement signed by Mr. Willie Bassey, Director Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation announced last week that Buhari had approved the extension of the tenure of seven retiring Permanent Secretaries for a period of one calendar year with effect from Oct. 1.

The statement said the extension was to ensure stability in the Federal Civil Service and effective delivery on the nine priority areas of the administration as well as the mandates given to the new Ministers. The permanent secretaries would ensure that the new ministers are properly guided and briefed about their sectors and ensure that a solid foundation is laid for the delivery on the Presidential Mandate which they jointly signed.

The affected Permanent Secretaries are Mrs. Georgina Ehuriah – Ministry of Interior, Mrs. Ifeoma Anagbogu – Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Grace Gekpe – Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.

Others are Dr Umar Bello – Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Suleiman Lawal – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Comfort Ekaro – Federal Ministry of Water Resources. Mr. Olusegun Adekunle would serve as Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The president has directed the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to commence the process for the selection of new Permanent Secretaries to replace all retiring Permanent Secretaries.

For a government that inaugurated a new cabinet barely one month ago, the decision to extend tenure of perm secs in these critical ministries makes a lot of sense. Not only would it allow the new ministers get proper handle on their beat but would help provide timely capacity for critical articulation and implementation of policies. Moreover, there is a limit to what overseeing directors can work on.

Perhaps, for the first time in the history of the country, cabinet ministers have been issued priority areas and have jointly signed mandate for delivery together with permanent secretaries.  To abandon the ministers midway is surely a recipe for uncertainty and failure. The one-year grace for the perm secs is enough to give mew cabinet members adequate grounding for their jobs. Moreover, the removal of the HOS at this time holds the potential to destabilize government bureaucracy, and the retention of the perm secs offer necessary buffer for the system.

This is why the argument that the president’s action was unconstitutional is so unnecessary and unhelpful and can only be motivated by mischief. It is not the first time Buhari had extended tenure of a perm sec for over-arching public service interest, and the impression it was unconstitutional had been corrected.

President reserves the right under Section 171 (2) d of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) to appoint anybody as permanent secretary. The appointments of permanent secretaries, ambassadors, Head of Service, ministers and other such aides of Mr. President are wholly his prerogative. Also, the Interpretation Act 123 of Nigeria supports the president’s action. The Act says the powers that are vested in the person who has power to appoint, that those power also gives him the authority over reinstatement and extensions.

This is the time to take another look at the turnover rate of quality personnel from the federal civil service. It is a malaise which has continued to weaken the civil service every year when professionals trained by public funds are eased out of service because they’re either 60 years old or had worked in the service for 35 years. Many of these people still had many more productive years to give their country at the time they’re retired. That is why Nigerians invented the unique phrase of “retired but not tired” to describe this phenomenon.

I gathered also that these perm secs, whose tenure have been elongated by a year, constitute some of the best trained civil servants in the country. Interestingly also, they all started their careers in the service from level GL 08 in 1984 and progressed and persevered through the ranks to get to their current positions of permanent secretaries.

And to think that we could have wasted such human and material resources at this period in the history of the country must be quite worrying for many. What is more, all the permanent secretaries concerned have not attained the age of sixty. They were only due for retirement because of their service years.

If the president was inclined to just follow established convention, he could have allowed those exiting to go and then exercise the options of either bringing new appointees from outside the service or simply reappoint those due for exit- and all would have been within his constitutionally guaranteed powers.

But government, and ultimately the country would be the loser when the civil service loses its most experienced personnel on the altar of rules when their skills are most needed.

This is why the president had approved an extension of the retirement age for men of the armed forces and para-military services including the Nigeria Customs Service, the fire service and the Nigeria Prison Service.  

Unlike in the past when the president’s action had been given unfair ethnic slant, no reasonable critic could see the new development as such. The national spread of the perm secs whose tenures were extended shows no other motivation could be behind it than overriding national interest. Indeed the action is in conformity with Buhari’s reputation for frugality, and deserves praise. 

It is in recognition of the truism of the ‘retired but not tired’ syndrome that retirement age in the judiciary and the academia was increased by the federal government, and there is no reason why the same should not be done for the civil service which is the pillar of governance. A new law was recently signed to increase retirement age of academic and non-academic staff in Nigerian universities to 70 and 65 years respectively, while that of judges was increased from 65 to 70.

It is commendable that the president had also directed the commencement of the selection process for new perm secs from among the directors in service. The time frame would allow for a seamless transition in the respective ministries.

And in a year when the national budget for coming year is expected to be ready before December, the perm secs would help the ministers manage the process for the preparation of the 2020 Budget in line with the commitment of government to return to the January-December budget circle.

The end game for government is to sustain functionality and effectiveness in service delivery and help deliver on the Administration’s promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years.

-Godwin Okpara writes from Kuje, Abuja

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Disclaimer: This article is entirely the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of The Whistler.