Disquiet In Kwara Civil Service Over Discrimination In Promotion

A storm is brewing in the Kwara State civil service over discrimination against staff of some agencies aspiring to the position of permanent secretary, THE WHISTLER has learnt.

Qualified staff of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the Teaching Service Commission and the Local Governments are denied the opportunity to write the mandatory promotion examination to the position of permanent secretary.

There are 34 permanent secretary positions in the state.

A director in one of the agencies who spoke to THE WHISTLER on condition of anonymity, disclosed that he was turned back when he went for the last promotion examination while others on the same Grade Level with him, but who worked in other agencies were allowed to sit for the exam.

“The permanent secretary in charge of the exam told me and my colleagues that we were not pool staff and so we were not eligible to write the exam.

“Meanwhile there is no official communication to indicate that staff in some agencies were not eligible for promotion to the position of perm sec.”

According to him, the practice had been going on for years without any official explanation to those whose careers would be cut short due to their denial from seeking the position of permanent secretary.

He said the turn of events had led to a scramble for transfer of service among ambitious staff of the concerned agencies to other agencies of the state, a development he believed was not in the best interest of the state.

“We believe the new current state governor is not aware of this development and it may be a decision of some powerful interests within the system.

“There is need for urgent action to foil this coup against some civil servants in the state.”

A write-up on the alleged discrimination authored by one Barrister U.S Imam, calling for action is being circulated online.

“I was on a visit to a cousin at the Kwara State Universal Basic Education (SUBEB), Ilorin today (19/11/2019) when I overheard some people discussing the above subject matter, to wit, that the staffers of the (SUBEB), the Teaching Service Commission and the Local Government are always excluded from sitting for the examination to vie for the seat of Permanent Secretary in Kwara State,” Imam claimed.

After asking to know the law or government policy that precludes “a certain set of people” from aspiring       to get to the peak of their career, he called on the state government to urgently investigate the claim and take action to redress the situation.

“I’m therefore seizing this opportunity to implore Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazak, the People’s Governor to look into this with a view to reversing the anomaly and correct the injustice,” he wrote.

Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, told THE WHISTLER to raise the issue with the Head of Service, Mrs. Dupe Oluwole.

“I don’t think I’m competent to talk on that. It’s a service issue and the best person to respond is the head of service,” he said.

But Mrs. Oluwole did not pick her calls and failed to reply a text message sent to her.