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    Thursday, March 3, 2016

    Protests As Presidency Extends Petroleum Ministry’s Perm Sec’s Tenure

    The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria has opposed the extension of the tenure of the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Jamila Shu’ara, by the Presidency.
    We learnt   that, according to the Public Service Rules number 100238, Shu’ara was retired on February 17 after attaining the age of 60.
    But the government insisted that she would still be in office for another year, thereby creating tension in the ministry.
    Shu’ara, in her notice of retirement dated February 15, 2016 to the acting Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, commended the Federal Government and President Muhammadu Buhari for “the opportunity of a rich employment”.
    “I wish to confirm that I am not in any way indebted to the Federal Government of Nigeria as evidenced in the non-indebtedness form duly endorsed by the Federal Housing Loans Board”, she wrote.
    But in the letter conveying the extension of her tenure, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Shu’ara was told that her emoluments and other conditions of service would be sustained till February 17, 2017.
    The letter entitled: “Extension of retirement period”, with ref. No: HCSF/351/S. 1/76, dated February 24, 2016 and signed by Oyo-Ita, was obtained by The PUNCH from the Presidency on Wednesday in Abuja.

    “This is to inform you that the His (sic) Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, in a letter with Ref. No. SGF. 12/S.11/C.1/T/2, has extended your retirement period by one (1) year with effect from February 17, 2016,” the letter stated.
    “Your emoluments and other conditions of service will remain sustained up to February 16, 2017.”
    But ASCSN, which is an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, said in the interest of industrial peace and harmony in the civil service, Shu’ara “should be eased out of the system unless those behind this extension have a hidden agenda somewhere”.
    The Secretary-General of ASCSN, Mr. Alade Lawal, told The PUNCH on Wednesday, “The so-called extension of retirement period of Mrs. Shu’ara for another year came to us as a big surprise. It is a rude shock and we least expected it. The development is dangerous and it is highly condemnable. With the sort of respect we have for this administration, we least expect this level of impunity to be factored into public administration. Are we saying this woman is indispensable? The answer is no.”

    Sources hinted that union leaders and senior officers in the ministry were ready for a showdown with the government over what the leadership of the unions described as “a time bomb”.
    Several telephone calls made to the Director of Communications in the HCSF, Mr. Haruna Imrana, for his reaction were not answered. He also did not reply to the SMS sent to his phone.
    But a source in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, told our correspondent that it was the President’s prerogative to extend the tenure of any permanent secretary, especially if they had an ongoing major national assignments before their retirement date.

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