Urges Head Of Service To Guide Buhari, Others With Existing Laws

The Civil Society Groups For Good Governance (CSGGG) has cautioned the Federal Government against the opaque manner in which the current recruitment process for a substantive Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) is being carried out.

CSGGG President, Comrade Ogakwu Dominic Ogakwu, who gave the warning, yesterday, in Abuja at a world press conference, urged the Head of Service of the Federation to stand up in defense of her oath of office and ensure that Nigeria’s public service rule is strictly observed to the letter.

According to Ogakwu, the observation became imperative due to the critical role of the Accountant-General in a nation at a crossroads like Nigeria, with myriads of crippling challenges, paramount among them being the depleting and almost empty national treasury.

Noting the unholy exit of the former AGF who is standing trial for financial misappropriation, the President insisted that necessity is laid on the Head of Service to invoke the powers of paragraph two of the Federal Establishment Circulars – Ref. No. SGF.50/s.II/C.2/268, which states that “pending the appointment of a substantive Head of Extra-Ministerial Department/Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of Parastatals, Agency, Commission and Government-owned company, the outgoing Chief Executive Officer must handover to the next most senior officer of the establishment, as long as the officer does not have any pending disciplinary matter.

“Outgoing Heads of Extra-Ministerial Department, Parastatals, Agencies, Commissions and Government-owned Companies, are not allowed the discretion of choosing the officer to whom they would handover.”

Ogakwu continued: “I specifically call on the Head of Service, to stand up in defense of her oath of office and ensure that our public service rule is strictly observed to the letter.

“Therefore, should the reluctance of the Head of Service to interpret this paragraph within context, be construed as a deliberate violation of extant regulations of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? Your guess is as good as mine!

“In any case, our major concern here is that, this inaction, be it by commission or omission has stirred the hornets’ nest, with attendant infighting and rift tearing treasury staff apart. Public employees should otherwise be channeling their creative energies towards managing the nation’s finances better, so as to get Nigeria out of the woods and give Nigerians a breath of life!

“Even more curious is the fact that the current Head of Service benefitted from the rule in question, hence, Nigerians now wonder and for good reason whether the rule, which benefitted some public stewards doesn’t apply to others? After all, what is good for the goose is good for the gander?

“Besides, CSGGG vehemently believes that apart from the fact that the most senior Director is being denied the entitlements due him or her for his or her diligent service to our fatherland, it is also true that our nation is mindlessly being robbed of the wealth of experience, which that individual has garnered over the years, in readiness to bail the nation out of the current financial challenges bedeviling her.

“Therefore, to arrest this untoward development and set the nation’s public service back on the right trajectory, CSGGG hereby calls on President Muhammadu Buhari, the Head of Service of the Federation, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and all those who are entrusted with the sanctity of our public service system, to immediately do the needful and put an end to this unholy trend of making a mockery of our public service and turning Nigeria into a laughing stock in the league of nations.”