The Centre for Public Accountability (CPA), has called on the Federal Government to investigate the controversy trailing the conduct of the recent promotion examination for directors to become permanent secretaries.
The Civil Society Organization described the promotion examination as unconstitutional.
In a report, CPA said: “This controversy over the promotion examination conducted by the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF), currently headed by Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, has attracted the attention of many stakeholders and concerned citizens that the recent examination for the promotion of directors to the prestigious position of permanent secretaries has been marred by allegations of bias and manipulations.”
A statement by its Director of Public Governance Monitoring, Nuhu Adams, alleged that the process was marred by controversies.
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It added: “We followed the recently concluded promotion examination from directorship cadre to permanent secretary rank and discovered it was marred with huge controversies that call for total cancellation and review of the entire process.
“It will be recalled that 85 directors from five states of the federation and two geo-political zones, namely the Northcentral and the Northeast, sat for promotion examination on November 6, 2023, with results released on November 7, 2023.
“It was reliably gathered that long before this exercise, there had been complaints about the composition of the Examination Committee, allegedly comprising mainly those known as the Head of Service’s allies.”
The statement claimed that the controversy surrounding the promotion examination had raised huge concerns.
It said Dr. Yemi-Esan, whose office conducted the exercise, needed to explain what happened during the conduct of the promotion examination.
Stakeholders, including senior civil servants, have urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to cancel the examination and appoint permanent secretaries.
They said such a step could be taken, as done in the appointment of ambassadors and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), in line with Section 17(1)(2) of the Constitution.
They wondered how only 20 out of the 85 directors initially invited to sit for the promotion examination scaled through the exercise.
“Furthermore, to ensure transparency and fairness, it may be prudent to involve external bodies or agencies in the investigation. This would help dispel any concerns about a conflict of interest and guarantee an unbiased scrutiny of the allegations,” CPA said.
No official in the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation was willing to comment on the development.
