With less than two months to the expiry of his tenure, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOS), Mr. Danladi Kifasi has been ordered to proceed on terminal leave.
Presidency sources said that President Muhammadu Buhari ordered Kifasi, who is due for retirement in December, to vacate office in order to ensure that his administration adheres to the Federal Character principles as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
The letter conveying the directive written by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir David Lawal noted that Kifasi’s terminal leave was with effect from Wednesday.
Although the SGF did not give any reason for the sudden removal of the HoS, a source at the Presidency told our correspondent that Kifasi was asked to proceed on terminal leave because he is from Taraba State which is in the same North-East Zone where the current SGF hails from.
Moreover, Kifasi’s removal might not be unconnected with a hint that he was having running battles with some permanent secretaries who did not find his leadership style comfortable.
Above all, Buhari is already considering the appointment of a new HoS from the South, with one of three permanent secretaries penned down as Kifasi’s replacement.
Before his appointment as the HoS on August 13, 2014 by former president Goodluck Jonathan, Kifasi, a career civil servant, worked as permanent secretary in ministries of Finance and Petroleum Resources at different times.
Jonathan appointed him to replace Bukar Goni Aji, who had attained the mandatory 60 years retirement age.
-Leadership