Scores fail perm sec exam for senior civil servants
By Rilwan SalamiPublished TodayNewsRating: Unrated
13 directors scale hurdle

President Umar Yar'Adua About 50 per cent of the 108 directors battling for 16 permanent secretary slots have failed the examination.

Besides, 13 have been cleared for the appointment in the Federal Civil Service.

Following the introduction of a new tenure policy and the exit of more than 10 permanent secretaries, the Federal Government threw open the slots to all directors to fill the vacancies.

The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation short-listed 108 directors for examination to replace the ex-permanent secretaries.

Based on a September 16 circular signed by the Permanent Secretary, Manpower Development, Mr. P.J. Major, the 108 directors underwent a series of tests from September 23 to 30. The tests included a written examination and Competency Evaluation at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.

There were also an IT refresher course, a self-assessment questionnaire, project development and implementation; policy development and implementation; public service rules, processes and procedures; contemporary government policies; and any other matter related to the office of the Permanent Secretary.

The breakdown of the short-listed directors, drawn from various ministries, is as follows: Bayelsa (one); Bauchi (16); Borno (18); Delta (14); Jigawa (10); Kaduna (13); Lagos (12); Ogun (24); Sokoto (five); and Zamfara (five).

About 50 per cent of the directors failed the examinations.

Some Permanent Secretaries were said to have been engaged by the Head of Service, Mr. Steve Oronsanye, to mark the examination scripts of the directors.

It was gathered that the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi, co-ordinated the examinations

A source, who was part of the exercise, said: "Many of the directors failed the examinations in a woeful manner. Our discoveries were shocking.

"Apart from gross inability to use computer (even basic computer skills), many of the directors could not answer questions on policy development and implementation.

"A lot of directors, who came on secondment from the state civil service, failed the examinations woefully.

"We have been able to discover how bad the Civil Service system has turned into. We have a serious case at hand.

"So far, as at Thursday, we have cleared 13 as fit for appointment as Permanent Secretaries. We are actually looking for 16 Permanent Secretaries to replace those who left as a result of the new tenure policy and those who had initially retired."

Responding to a question, the source added: "The Head of Service may still have to come up with remedial programmes to assist the directors who failed the examinations to be able to adjust to the new Civil Service structure being put in place.

"We cannot just go ahead to retire these directors. We only need to retrain and subject them to periodic evaluation tests.

"You can see the rationale behind the introduction of a new eight-year tenure policy for permanent secretaries and directors. You can be sure that on or before eight years’ time, the weak directors would have left the service.

"Oronsaye has to work round the clock to sanitise the system because time is not on his side too. He is due for retirement next year."

A Minister, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent, said: "We have heard that about 50 per cent of the directors failed and that was really surprising to us.

"One can now appreciate the slow pace of bureaucratic process that cabinet members are experiencing in their ministries."

The Federal Government on August 26, last year ordered all permanent secretaries and directors, who will be eight years in office by January 1, next year, to submit their pre-retirement notice.

The retirement notice was signed by Oronsaye.

The new eight-year tenure for Permanent Secretaries and directors is said to be without prejudice to the mandatory 60 years of age or 35 years in service for retirement.





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