₦airaland Forum

A new order has started unfolding in Lagos State civil service. The new wave emanated from the decision by the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration to jettisoning the statutory procedures in civil service and popular axiom, ‘hard work pays.

And the administration’s resolve to discourage hard work for mediocrity came from its decision to approved removal of Permanent Secretaries, heads of agencies and Directors for kicking against any sharp practices in the State civil service.

But the need for a mediocre and corruption free civil service in Lagos State further strengthened by the immediate past governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has allegedly suffered severe setbacks, leaving several civil servants to wonder reasons for the sudden shift in administrative style.

Under the previous administration, several leakages that reduced government efficiencies were blocked using some Permanent Secretaries, Heads of Departments and Agencies, assisting the government to save over N3 billion monthly.

And rather than the present administration sustains the strategy with the crops of civil servants that prevented the state from bleeding continuously, stopping their colleagues from diverting taxes and revenues into personal accounts, they have either been eased out of the service or deployed to offices where they will be redundant and replaced with those that could facilitate return of the old order.

According to investigation conducted by our correspondent, the Tutor-General/Permanent Secretaries and Directors were redeployed at different times to erase any doubt that the redeployment was done with any plan to witch-hunt the staff that had worked tirelessly for development of Lagos State.

During the investigation, it was learned that the Permanent Secretaries were transferred before August 19th, when Governor Sanwo-Olu swore in another set of newly appointed nine Permanent secretaries including the former General Manager of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, Mr. Wale Musa and former General Manager of Lagos State Building Control Agency, LASBCA, Engr. Lekan Shodeinde.

Sources said that the redeployment of the Permanent Secretaries were also approved by the governor after receiving persistent briefs from the Head of Service, HOS, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, who ensured that his wishes on the redeployment come to past.

A Tutor-General/Permanent Secretary, apparently not satisfied with the redeployment that demoted her, disclosed authoritatively to our correspondent that his major crime before the transfer was her refusal to allow corruptible act to hold and reversal of those that had taken place before her assumption in office.

Another Permanent Secretary, Dr. Taiwo Salaam, who had for several years embarked on local and international seminars and workshops on Transport Management, was also redeployed to Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, which many could not justify reasons for his redeployment and replaced with Musa, who had been an administrative officer for several years.

Sources said Taiwo offence was that he raised objection to Muri-Okunola’s decision on redeployment of some staffs from the ministry, arguing that the government had sent them on different training and were about implementing all they learnt during their stint outside the shores of the country.

Also, two Permanent Secretaries names were excluded from the redeployment but their seats were currently vacant, raising concerns among staffs even as sources claimed that they have resigned after realizing that the HOS had started embarking on some strategies to witch-hunt them.

Besides, in the ministry of Information and Strategy, it was reliably gathered that no fewer than 15 directors were already due for promotion as Permanent Secretaries but were currently denied access, an act linked to Muri-Okunola. This is also unsettling the ministry.

Also not spared from the wrath of the HOS, who is the youngest to occupy the coveted seat in Lagos, were directors that have had encounters with him before he assumed office and after the governor was sworn in.

A check on their redeployment revealed that the HOS, not minding the statutory cadre that existed in some of the agencies the directors hold, approved their transfer in a circular with reference number 049 signed on August 7th, ending any opportunity to introduce novel strategies in their chosen career.

Among the agencies that have special Cadre system is Vehicle Inspection Service, VIS. This indicates that staff under this agency cannot be redeployed until they assumed the post of Permanent Secretary. This was one practice not jettisoned when VIS was upgraded from Vehicle Inspection Officers, VIO about seven years ago. The former governor, Babatunde Fashola, now minister of Works and Housing, made it full fledge agency after several years of been a department under the ministry of Transportation.

The cadre system, experts said, was to ensure that the personnel were not transferred like other civil servants due to the training they were often demanded to embark upon and to sustain professionalism.

With this present system, none of the Staff has attained that status in the agency; which required that status quo at the agency’s hierarchy would remain. And the most senior officer in the agency is the former director, Gbolahan Toriola; should remain head VIS.

But rather than allow the cadre system operates independently as it had been before now, Muri-Okunola, tampered with it in the circular sighted by our correspondent, removing Toriola, who had been trained by government locally and abroad, has started implementing the knowledge acquired to solve Lagos challenges.

One of the major innovations introduced by Toriola was the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), a technology that reduces interference between motorist and VIS officers. This technology captures vehicle number plate, conduct verification on the vehicle and issue ticket when necessary to the motorist.

Under his supervision, he facilitated the introduction of autoreg.com system and boosted the agency’s revenue from N175.8 million in 2007 to N2.24 billion in 2018.

Some staffs lamented that Muri-Okunola, however, threw all these achievement into thrash can and ordered his redeployment to Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, where his service cannot be effectively used and ordered that Fashola Akin-George replace him immediately.

In the circular sighted, while others including Toriola’s date of deployment to the position was stated, Akin-George’s date of assignment to his previous post was not stated rather the HOS categorically stated that he should be made to head the agency.

Meanwhile, staff of VIS disclosed that Akin-George came into the agency two years ago and had practically no knowledge of the agency nor had he spent over five years in service.

Poking further into the twist that had unsettled the Transport family, a top civil servant official narrated that Toriola was seen as a wall preventing some officers of the agency from having their way in graft practices.

Also listed as Toriola’s offense was his redeployment of one Kazeem Animashaun, a relative to the Oloja of Epe, Oba Kamorudeen Animashaun, over alleged sharp practices, to Agbado Oke-Ode Local Council Development Area, LCDA.

The redeployment stood under the Ambode’s administration. But weeks after the inauguration of the incumbent governor, a top official disclosed that Muri-Okunola directed that Toriola fix Kazeem up to his preferred unit as head.

It was learned that the alleged atrocities committed by the officer was presented to the HOS. And rather, he rebuffed and insisted that the directive be carried out immediately. While Toriola was still trying to device strategy to implement the directive, Muri-Okunola threatened to institute disciplinary action against him. And to save his job, Toriola was said to have reversed the earlier redeployed on Kazeem.

Aside that, the source told our correspondent that Toriola was also axed for quoting and implementing the traffic law that restricted technology-driven commercial motorcycle operators especially GOKADA, Opay and others, from plying over 400 roads including bridges and others.

Both issues, according to the sources, affected allies of the HOS and threatened his investment and other top government officials in the commercial motorcycle operation in the state.

The Ijaws in Delta state have rejected the Nomination of Mr Bernard Okumagba into the Board of the NDDC.

In a statement sighted by LeadersNG, they are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to put into consideration the rotational arrangement as prescribed by the NDDC Act of 2000 Section 12 (1)


See Statement Below:


The Ijaws in Delta state wish to strongly notify President Mohammadu Buhari and the National Assembly (the Senate and the House of Representatives) that the nomination of Bernard Okumagba, of the Urhobo extraction of Delta state as the Managing Director (MD) in the new Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board, instead of an Ijaw nominee from Delta state has been rejected in its entirety. This is unacceptable to us and it is a clear indication of oppression, injustice and the alienation of Ijaws in Delta state by the present administration. We state this without fear or favour that any executive position meant for Delta State should be given to the Ijaws as it is our due turn, in line with the rotational arrangement as prescribed by the NDDC Act of 2000 Section 12 (1) which states that “There shall be for the Commission, a Managing Director, and two Executive Directors who shall be indigenes of oil producing areas starting with the member states of the Commission with the highest production quantum of oil and shall rotate amongst member states in the order of production”. The emphasis on the rotation within member states with the highest production quantum of oil is to ensure equity, justice and fairness in states like Delta state where there are more than one ethnic group producing oil.

The Ijaw riverine communities are the highest producers of oil and gas in the region, and by consequence, the highest revenue generators in Nigeria. We also bear the brunt of the pollution, degradation and environmental impacts of the oil and gas exploration, production and transportation. In spite of our enormous contributions and sacrifices, we are still the most underdeveloped part of Nigeria. The NDDC, which is an offspring of the Niger Delta struggle, was birthed as an interventionist agency to cater for the oil-bearing/impacted communities from age-long neglect. Though all members of the region contributed to the struggle, the Ijaws, without any iota of doubt, sacrificed and contributed the most to the struggle. Ijaws sacrificed the blood of their children to agitate for the creation of the NDDC and were tagged all sorts of names in the process. We were called militants, trouble makers, armed robbers, barbarians, and all sorts, but today, forces that are against the progress of Ijaws are gradually scheming to erase us out of the equation, and prevent us from enjoying the dividends of the struggle. From the time of state creation, the Ijaws have always been prejudiced because of our geographic location and the crude oil God blessed us with. Ijaws are balkanize in bits in almost all the states in the Niger Delta and in all these states we have been maliciously distributed as minorities (except Bayelsa state), though we generate the highest revenue from our God-given crude. As minorities, we suffer oppression, have very weak political voices and tiny political space for survival. As a result, the 13% derivation accruing to the state treasury directly from our soil and waters are also used to develop other non-oil producing areas with plenty political powers. We are the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria with no strength and have been forced in the past to thread the path of violent agitation to get what is due to us or wait for the leftovers of others. This injustice and blatant disregard for the legitimate rights of the Ijaws in Delta state is unacceptable and we will resist it with everything God has empowered us with.

We want to remind President Mohammadu Buhari and the members of the National Assembly that the provisions of the NDDC Act has been followed judiciously by previous governments to the last letter and we the Ijaws in Delta state will resist with everything in us the attempt by this present administration to go against the NDDC Act to oppress our people and deprive us of what is due to us. For emphasis, we have taken time to explain the representation of Deltans on the NDDC board by their ethnicity, from inception to date. In the first NDDC board (2000 – 2004) that had Prof. V.F Peretomode (Ijaw) as the state rep, Godwin Omene (Urhobo) was the MD. Gowin Omene (Urhobo) was later replaced in 2002 with Emmanuel Agwariavwodo (Urhobo) in the first board. Emmanuel Agwariavwodo (Urhobo) was however reappointed in the second board (2005 – 2008) as the MD while Chief Emmanuel Ogidi (Isoko) served as the state rep. Agwariavwodo (Urhobo) resigned to contest the Delta state gubernatorial election, and this made Timi Alaibe (Bayesla), the then EDFA to step in as the acting MD and Pastor P.Z Aginighan (Ijaw) the then Director of Finance and Supplies step in as acting EDFA respectively. In the third board (2009 – 2011), Chibuzor Ugwocha (Rivers) was the MD and Pastor P.Z Agnighan (Ijaw) was confirmed as substantive EDFA with Chief Solomon Ogba (Isoko) as the state rep. This board was sacked half-way and people from same state were appointed to continue the third board with the same rotational arrangement from 2011 – 2012. This reconstituted board had Konboye Lambert (Ijaw) serving as the EDFA while Chief Solomon Ogba (Isoko) was retained again as the state rep. In the fourth board (2013 – 2015), Tuoyo Omatsuli (Itsekiri) was the EDP while Chief Tom Amioku (Urhobo) was the state rep. The fourth board was reconstituted in 2015 and it had Samuel Adjogbe (Urhobo) as the EDP and Ogaga Ofowodo (Isoko) as the state rep. The fifth board which is this current nomination that the Ijaws in Delta state are rejecting in its entirety has Prophet Jones Erue (Isoko) as the state rep and Bernard Okumagba (Urhobo) as the MD. From the foregoing, it is crystal clear that the Ijaws in Delta state have been undermined and are maliciously being schemed out of the NDDC equation. The Urhobos in Delta state have occupied executive position four times and appointing another Urhobo man as the MD is a sign of oppression and marginalization of the Ijaws. The MD position must come to the Ijaws in Delta state as it is our due turn in accordance to the NDDC Act of 2000 12 (1) which states that “There shall be for the Commission, a Managing Director, and two Executive Directors who shall be indigenes of oil producing areas starting with the member states of the Commission with the highest production quantum of oil and shall rotate amongst member states in the order of production”. After all, the Ijaws produce over 50% of the total oil and gas in Delta state.

As a matter of utmost urgency, we want to remind the government of the day that the NDDC Act has been religiously followed in the setting up of previous boards until this ugly aberration by some overzealous politicians. It would interest you to note that similar nomination blunder was committed during the setting up of the outgoing board in 2016. Nominees from Imo, Ondo and Abia states were rejected on the grounds that it contradicts the NDDC Act but President Mohammadu Buhari was very quick to make amends, thus significantly maintaining the peace in the region and averting serious fundamental security and developmental threats. The President had to nullify the former nominations and fresh nominations of Lucky Orimiso (Ondo), Chukwa Anwawa (Imo) and Nwogu Nwogu (Abia), were made by the President to the National Assembly in March 2017 as “replacement of those that were rejected for not representing the oil producing areas of their respective states.” We are therefore demanding same in this situation. We enjoin the government of the day as a matter of urgency to please present fresh nomination from the Delta Ijaw extraction for the position of the MD to ensure peace, fairness and equity is maintained in the region. Again, we seriously appeal to the Buhari administration to do diligent consultation as done before setting up previous boards to keep the ethnic balances intact. It is of utmost importance that President Mohammadu Buhari and the National Assembly listens to the voice of reason to not complicate our sufferings by deliberately sidelining and suffocating us in the scheme of things. A situation where one major player is deliberately trampled on and sidelined after cooperating with existing protocols and have humbly waited for their due turn will surely breed bad blood amongst us. Enough is enough.

Signed:
Chief Ebipade Gbegha (Chairman)

Ogbein Zidideke (Secretary)

Western Ijaw Consultative Assembly. No. 4 Suto street Bomadi, Delta State

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Officials of the Lagos State Vehicle Inspection Service, VIS are displeased over the removal and redeployment of the head of the agency, Mr. Gbolahun Toriola.

In line with the executive order by former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, demanding that VIS officers engage the use of technology to check vehicle papers and apprehend offenders, else they vacate the roads, where they cause unnecessary gridlock which constitutes unnecessary hardship to residents, record has it that the VIS under the leadership of Toriola introduced the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology for the verification of prescribed particulars. Also, a robust database management system such as autoreg.com, lagroute.org, where detailed information of the owner can be obtained without necessarily stopping the Vehicle through the integration of the technology of the relevant agencies data bases were made available.

It is also important to point out that it is on record that the VIS increased its revenue generation from N175.8 million to N2.24 billion between 2007 and 2018.

Laudable achievements which are brilliantly driven by technology such as the introduction of e-testing for drivers licence applicants, introduction of magnetic optical/ Autovin technology for pre–registration inspection and the introduction of ANPR technology for the enforcement of traffic rules and regulation, among several other achievements of the VIS were recorded under the leadership of Toriola.

Investigations hasn’t revealed any act of misconduct that warrants the undue redeployment of Toriola, however, sources made known that trouble started for Toriola when he removed one Animashaun and then redeployed to Oke-Odo, from being head of Coker-Aguda VIS over alleged sharp practices.

We gathered that the said officer allegedly given to bad practices is the brother of Gbolahan Animashaun in the Deputy Governor’s office. After the swearing in of Governor Sanwo-Olu, Animashaun was said to have lobbied the Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola for redeployment out of Oke-Odo. Sources in government said the HOS ordered that Animashaun be brought back to his former posting without investigating why he was redeployed in the first place. Animashaun was redeployed to Coker Aguda as Zonal Head on the request of the HOS in order to allow peace reign.

Our findings revealed that some of the other sins that resulted to the untimely removal of Toriola had to do with GOKADA. Our reporters learnt that since the operation of GOKADA was contrary to the Lagos Road Traffic law barring them from plying some 475 roads such as expressways, bridges and others, operators were said to have lobbied the HOS having invested so much in the business.

THE HOS met with insistence by Toriola stating that allowing them is against the traffic law; this incurred the rage of the HOS who will rather be challenged.

A recent circular by the Head of Service, showed that Toriola had been redeployed to the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure. Officials of the VIS who are still hoping to have their experienced boss are dumbfounded that the HOS will redeploy a VIS boss to a ministry that has nothing to do with transportation.

Is it that the Lagos State HOS is unaware that the VIS is on a special cadre and that officers of the agency are not redeployed to other agencies due to their specified expertise in vehicle services, save for when they attain the position of Permanent Secretary. After much protest, the HOS further redeployed Toriola from Ministry of Works to the administrative department, Ministry of Transportation. Since his redeployment, VIS officers have resumed to the road constituting huge nuisance with the old and archaic method of operation.

A recent visit to the VIS office shows that Toriola has been replaced with Akin Fashola who joined the civil service in 2015 as an Assistant Director on grade level 15.

Though he was posted to the VIS in 2017, he was not employed on VIS cadre and is not a cadre officer, according to our investigation. Two years later, he has been made the head of the VIS. Sources have it that Fashola is a cousin of Hakeem Muri-OkunOla.

…Lauds IGP on removal of former Enugu CP

Political Parties in Enugu State under the auspices of Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) have commended Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for the proactive measures his administration has taken so far to tackle the sudden security challenges in the state.

The political parties hailed Gov. Ugwuanyi for being the first among the governors of the South East zone and the entire country to commence the operation of Forest Guards, stressing that it was an indication that “our governor is highly determined and committed to nip in the bud the monstrous activities of these hoodlums, who are terrorizing our people, especially in the rural communities”.

In a statement by the state Chairman and Secretary of CNPP, Hon. Adonys Igwe and Chief Cesar Mbaonu, respectively, the body lauded the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, for heeding to the outcry of the people of Enugu State by redeploying the former Commissioner of Police, Mr. Suleiman Balarabe out of the state.

The group stated that the IGP’s decision has brought a huge relief to the people of Enugu State who were living in fear because of the strange security lapses that ensued during the tenure of Balarabe as police commissioner.

The parties also applauded Gov. Ugwuanyi for the state government’s decision to purchase 260 security vehicles and motorcycles respectively, including communication gadgets, among other proactive measures, aimed at enhancing community policing and protecting lives and property, stressing that it was commendable and a right step in the right direction.

“As opposition political parties in Enugu State, we wish to state that we are impressed and satisfied with the proactive measures being taken by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to tackle these recent security issues in our state. The governor has not rested since these security challenges came up. He has been moving from one forest to another, where these bandits and hoodlums operate from; visiting security checkpoints to charge the personnel to live up to expectations. This shows that he has the interest of the people at heart and is committed to their wellbeing and safety”.

Describing the security lapses as strange, the group said: “This is strange because Enugu State has been known as the most peaceful and secure place in Nigeria which the present Inspector General of Police can testify being a one-time Commissioner of Police in our state.

“Before and after the general elections there were relative peace and security in the state. The campaigns were very peaceful, the elections were very peaceful and the same after the elections. Shortly before the elections, some interested politicians went to Abuja and changed the then Commissioner of Police, Mr. Danmallam Mohammed and brought Balarabe, and suddenly Enugu became something else. The security was compromised because of laxity of the immediate past CP, and we did not keep quiet until he was removed. So, we are happy he has been removed. We thank the Inspector-General of Police and pray that the new CP, Ahmad Abdulrahman, will restore maximum security in Enugu State”, the body said.

Sensing political sabotage ahead of 2023, the CNPP cautioned those it described as “self-centered politicians who see election as a do or die affair to know that 2023 is very far and should not distract the present government from delivering on its mandate to the people of the state.