By Daniel Kanu and Ishaya Ibrahim
President Muhammadu Buhari seemed to have relied on gossip, knowingly and unwittingly, in the purge of 17 permanent secretaries on Tuesday, November 10, disregarding civil service rules which protect them from arbitrary sack.
The rules stipulate that the compulsory retirement age for all grades “shall be 60 years or 35 years of pensionable service, whichever is earlier.”
Going by the rules, “a permanent secretary shall hold office for a term of four years and renewable for another further term of four years, subject to satisfactory performance, and no more.”
The provision of second term for permanent secretaries is meant to improve their usefulness and efficiency in the service.
The rules also state that before proceedings for the removal of an officer for inefficiency, corruption or incompetence may be commenced, he/she must have been warned on three occasions in writing.
No warning before sack
Acting Head of Service (HoS), Winnifred Oyo-Ita, took the permanent secretaries to a meeting with Buhari on November 10 during which they were fired.
Oyo-Ita is 53 years old, which implies that many of her seniors would have to be sacked to pave the way for her to become substantive HoS.
The sacked permanent secretaries were neither given verbal nor written warnings, were not due for retirement and none had put in 35 years of service.
TheNiche learnt that the majority of the sacked permanent secretaries are yet to reach the age of 60 and some were sworn in on the same day as Oyo-Ita.
They were abruptly asked to go home mid-way into their first or second term.
The image of corruption created by the All Progressives Congress (APC) propaganda – spearheaded by Information Minister, Lai Mohammed – which portrayed former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration as corrupt and incompetent was the motivation, said a source in the service, who pleaded not to be named.
He said the feeling in the Villa was that permanent secretaries were the conduit pipe for the corruption in the previous government, and hence, those of them close to Jonathan’s ministers must be removed.
Kitchen cabinet intrigue
Sources said Buhari’s kitchen cabinet, comprising Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David, profiled the ‘black list’ of permanent secretaries to be fired, and those to replace them.
And just as Buhari did not follow the rules in relieving the permanent secretaries of their jobs, he also disregarded them in appointing their successors.
Buhari’s secret probe of the sacked permanent secretaries through his kichen cabinet returned a damning verdict of very wealthy civil servants who could no longer be trusted for the desired change.
Buhari admits departure from practice
Buhari himself admitted this much while swearing-in 18 of the appointees 24 hours after sacking their senior colleagues.
His words: “In keeping with the change mantra of this administration, the process for your selection as permanent secretaries was a departure from the previous practice of administering written and oral examinations.
“Instead, a more rigorous selection process, entailing vigorous screening of candidates’ past records, potential and capacity for holding the office, integrity, honesty and a sense of commitment was adopted.”
Critics wonder why Buhari jettisoned a transparent process – such as administering examination and interview in the promotion of civil servants – for nebulous and confusing criteria prone to different interpretations and perceptions.
“Who determines who is honest, and who has the capacity to hold office? Universities should now be awarding degrees based on these standards?” a source wondered.
Ajaero warns against impunity
A Labour leader, Joe Ajaero, said he found it difficult to believe that Buhari would relieve civil servants of their jobs arbitrarily despite laid down procedure.
“Unless there is sufficient proof of misconduct, but even at that there are rules controlling the civil service. This is a democracy and things must follow the rule of law,” he stressed.
“[Buhari] cannot unilaterally violate the civil service rule which is in line with the Constitution of the land. If their services are no longer needed there are still ways to work it out and tabulate benefits.
“I want to believe that the permanent secretaries he removed know their rights and if they feel aggrieved they can seek redress in the law courts.
“It may be too early for anybody to make conclusions on the matter. I think we should wait to get all the details before we jump into a wrong conclusion.”
