The Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB) has approved the promotion of 20,867 senior officers from the various paramilitary services under the Ministry of Interior.
The CDCFIB secretary, Mallam Ja’afaru Ahmed, disclosed this following the Board’s 5th meeting, chaired by the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubumi Tunji-Ojo, on Friday in Abuja.
The promotions, according to Ahmed, cut across multiple ranks, including inspector, assistant superintendent, controllers, comptrollers, and commandants within the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Federal Fire Service (FFS), and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
He further announced that the federal government was set to conclude the Federal Fire Service recruitment on September 30.
Providing the details of the 2024 promotion exercise, Mr. Ahmed announced that a total of 5,329 officers from the Nigeria Correctional Service were promoted, while the Nigeria Immigration Service got 5,112 promotions. Additionally, the Federal Fire Service had 489 officers promoted across various ranks, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps achieved the highest number with 9,937 promotions.
The Board secretary also noted that the CDCFIB approved Special Promotions for two officers of the NCoS, four officers of the NIS, one officer from the FFS, and two officers of the NSCDC.
Other approvals mentioned included the endorsement for monitoring and evaluation, as well as collaboration on career development courses organised within the four para-military Services.
He also mentioned the approval for implementing a new training curriculum in the Federal Fire Service’s Training Institutions and a new scheme of service for the FFS.
Furthermore, he reaffirmed the Board’s commitment to completing the 2023/24 Federal Fire Service recruitment exercise by the end of September 2024.
The Board urged the beneficiaries to view their promotions as a new opportunity to enhance their responsibilities, emphasising that “promotions come with enormous responsibilities, and to whom much is given, much is expected.”
The Board highlighted that this was the second time in the history of the Ministry of Interior that such a significant number of officers had been promoted, calling on the beneficiaries to commit themselves fully to the service of the nation.