Nigerian leader, President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Federal Government may axe some directors and their equivalents in Ministries, Departments and Agencies MDAs over their failure or refusal to observe the government’s tenure policy for the Civil Service.

Recall that the government had in January this year restored the Tenure Policy under the 2021 edition of the Public Service Rules PSR. In the revised PSR, a Director or its equivalent by whatever nomenclature shall compulsorily retire after serving for eight years on the post.

Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan had announced this during a meeting of the National Public Service Negotiating Councils in Abuja on January 18, 2022, which was attended by the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Dr. Ramatu Aliyu and the President of Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, Ayuba Waba.

Civil Service sources, however disclosed that some directors or their equivalents in some of the MDAs have ignored this new policy and have stayed on their positions after eight years in violation of the new policy.

The sources disclosed that the government would be left with no alternative than to compulsorily retire such sit-tight directors and also impose heavy sanctions on them, which might include but not limited to compelling them to refund all salaries and allowances received during the period they over stayed as well as forfeiting other benefits.

It was further gathered that the decision of the government to wield this big stick may not be unconnected with the fact that many other Civil Servants down the ladder have not been promoted and may never be promoted as long as these sit-tight directors and General Managers remain in their positions after their statutory time of exit as prescribed by the new Civil Service rule.

Under the new rule also, a Permanent Secretary shall hold office for a term of four years which is renewable for a further term of four years, subject to satisfactory performance and no more.

It also provides that the annual leave of workers would be computed based on working days as opposed to calendar days as it was in the old PSR.

The Head of Service had also hinted that though the government was considering upward review of salaries, workers must sit up and do the work expected of them.

She decried a situation where the civil service had over the years become a dumping ground for all sorts of persons and urged the NLC to root out charlatans from the system, noting that many workers were fond of loitering about in the offices without doing anything commensurate with their pay. She urged the workers to take deliberate steps to develop themselves by attending trainings, a development, she argued would reflect on performance evaluation significantly.

She said: “This government is ready to increase our salaries. I hope when we invite the union we must be able to come to good terms. There is no government that can rise above the quality of itself. If we have allowed charlatans in, we must look for a way of getting them out so that we can rescue ourselves.

“After this meeting I will invite the union to also come and sit down with us and think of a way of rescuing the service back. What we have now is not a service, we must agree on that.”