The staff of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) have expressed grievances following a media report of the posting of a new federal permanent secretary to the FCTA, Dr Magdalene Ajani.
President Bola Tinubu had on Friday approved the redeployment and assignment of portfolios to 24 permanent secretaries, including Dr. Magdalene Ajani, from the Transportation Ministry, to replace the incumbent at the FCTA, Mr. Olusade Adesola, who is due to retire from service on January 29, 2024.
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Many staff members of the FCTA had expected that Adesola would be the last federal permanent secretary to be posted to the FCTA, considering President Tinubu’s approval for the establishment of a Civil Service Commission for the FCT to allow career progression for civil servants in the FCT Administration, but their expectation was dashed with the report of Dr. Ajani’s posting.
The FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, said in October that the law for the creation of the commission had been signed since 2018 but was not implemented for whatever reasons.
Wike, while explaining that he was not aware of the existence of the law until recently, said, “So, I wrote a memo to Mr. President. I say, you have a Renewed Hope agenda; civil servants in FCT are suffering; they have lost hope.
“They are not committed to work. Why should I be working because, at the end of the day, I cannot get to the apex of my career? As such, we must implement that 2018 law as passed by the National Assembly. If there are challenges, of course there is no law that is perfect.”
Although the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation has yet to issue any statement regarding the posting of a permanent secretary to the FCTA, the umbrella body of staff unions in the FCTA, the Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC), is threatening mass protests to register their displeasure if there is any such posting.
The president of the union, Comrade Matilukuro Korede, in a circular addressed to all the members of the administration and those of the Federal Capital Development Authority, described the new posting as an anomaly that should not be allowed to stand.
The circular reads, “Sequel to the emergency meeting held on Friday, January 12, 2024, at the JUAC Secretariat, FCTA, where the Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC) has concluded to hold a Press Conference, against the anomalies as far as the permanent secretary issue is concerned in the FCTA, i.e., the supposed replacement of Adesola, the last PS from the Head of Service to the FCTA, (who is due and scheduled to retired on the 29th January, 2024).
“To this end, I wish to mobilise all staff of the FCTA/FCDA/SDAs to join the umbrella body of the unions at JUAC Secretariat, FCTA, on Monday, January 15, 2024, to speak with one voice against the miss match and the anomalies called New Perm Sec.
“All staff are here by invited to the JUAC Press Conference, this coming Monday to state the position of the union. It is no longer business as usual.”
However, despite the intervention of the FCT minister to meet with President Tinubu on the matter, the workers suspended the press conference and staged a protest on Monday calling for the full implementation of the FCT Civil Service Commission (CSC) Law, 2018, which provided for the appointment of PS from the FCTA.
The JUAC president, Mr. Matilukuro Korede, who spoke on behalf of the workers in Abuja on Monday, challenged the deployment, which he described as an aberration of the FCT CSC Law.
Korede recalls that the Federal Executive Council, in October 2023, approved the implementation of the law establishing a CSC for FCT.
The president said that with this development, the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, did not have the power to appoint a permanent secretary for the FCT.
The JUAC president, therefore, described the action of the Head of Service as faulty and called for the full implementation of the FCT CSC Law.
“On Thursday, we heard that the head of service had announced that she had gotten approval from President Tinubu to deploy another Permanent Secretary to FCT.
“We felt aggrieved because it is an aberration. As we speak now, the FCT CSC Law has been gazetted since 2018,” he said.
He said that since 2004, the staff of FCTA had been deprived of becoming permanent secretaries, adding that the law to make it possible was signed in 2018, but implementation became a problem.
He said that Wike took up the issue and, within a month, secured President Tinubu’s approval for the implementation of the law.
“But to our surprise, the Head of Service decided to include a name for appointment as permanent secretary for the FCT. As far as FCT is concerned, the permanent secretary should be appointed among the qualified directors in the FCTA and not from outside.
“This will provide an opportunity for the staff of FCTA to get to the peak of their career by becoming a permanent secretary.
“Our demand, therefore, is that the appointment of a permanent secretary outside the FCTA is an aberration and an anomaly that should be corrected. We are waiting for the implementation of the FCT Civil Service Commission,” he said.
He added that if the Head of Service insists on appointing a permanent secretary from outside the FCTA, then she has to wait for the law to be amended and be given the power to do so.