Retired permanent secretaries from the Federal Civil Service led by Ammuna Lawan-Ali has said the process of selecting federal permanent secretaries is fraught with anomalies.
Lawan-Ali spoke in Abuja at a press briefing organised by the Council of Retired Federal Permanent Secretaries (CORFEPS) on the forthcoming CORFEPS Week slated for March 5-7.
She said the council had seen anomalies where directors were subjected to rigorous written or oral interviews, only for the third or fourth rated candidates on the ranking order to be appointed as permanent secretaries.
The retired permanent secretaries also decried cases where some permanent secretaries go through the backdoor to seek extension of their tenure of only two terms of four years each, after which they were expected to exit the service.
They said in their days, before anybody could be eligible for the permanent secretary examination, he/she must have headed a department or must have been a director for three years.
Lawan-Ali said, “But we have found out that you can be a director last month, head a department for only a month and still go ahead for permanent secretary examination. The whole essence of this colloquium is to find ways of improving governance.
“These are the issues we will look at and proffer suggestions to the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and the Presidency so that the necessary corrections can be made based on our own experiences.”
Other members of CORFEPS, who retired after attaining the status of permanent secretaries or higher, at the media briefing included the first vice chairman, Akin Arikawe, the national publicity secretary, Goke Adegoroye, the acting secretary, Ambassador Bulus Zom Lolo and Dr Timiebi Koripamo-Agary.
In his speech, Adegoroye said the opening day of the colloquium at the State House on March 5 is open to the public by invitation while the annual general meeting, which holds at Atiku Hall, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the following day is for members only.
He said President Bola Tinubu, who will be investitured as the grand patron will be special guest of honour for the ceremony billed for March 7, 2024 and to be chaired by the Olu of Ilu Abo and a former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), HRH Olu Falae.
The theme of the colloquium is “Reflections on Nigeria’s Public Service: Way Forward for Good Governance.”