*File Containing List Of Beneficiaries Allegedly Submitted To President’s Office
Tension and rage have gripped the Federal Civil Service over ongoing secret moves to grant tenure extension to some handpicked top civil servants who are due for retirement.
The bid has unsettled many other senior civil servants as well as lower ranked ones who feel a sense of betrayal.
Reports said the names of at least three benefiting very senior civil servants have been forwarded to the Presidency for approval to extend their tenure beyond retirement age.
Among them is a Permanent Secretary.
A particular wing of the Presidency,headed by a vocal Minister, is reportedly behind the tenure extension bid.
Tenure extension for civil servants directly violates Public Service Rules (PSR), especially Rule 020810 Chapter Two (2) which states that “the compulsory retirement age for all grades in the service shall be 60 years or 35 years of pensionable service, whichever is earlier, and no officer shall be allowed to remain in service after attaining the retirement age of 60 years or 35 years of service.”
Civil service watchers say it is trite knowledge that no officer can remain in service after reaching either of these retirement criteria; meaning there is no provision for extensions or continued employment beyond the specified age or service duration.
Serving and retired civil servants, stakeholders and keen watchers of developments in the service are agreed that it is an aberration for any civil servant due for retirement, to be ‘blessed’ with tenure extension.
The bid to violate the rules by granting tenure extension to some civil servants has sparked serious tension in and outside the service.
Lower ranked civil servants, for one, believe such action will rob them of necessary career growth as the old brigade will still remain in service on their posts, thus stultifying growth and breeding frustration, with hugely deleterious effects on age-old cohesion, discipline and obedience.
A Grade Level 10 staff member said: “Approving tenure extension for those due for retirement means you want them to sit tight, consuming public funds whereas they are supposed to go home, thus stunting the career progression of staff like me. I oppose this wicked, selfish action.
“At a time government, burdened by foreign and local debts, should be exploring ways to reduce expenditure, granting tenure extension to those who earn very heavily and who have control over public funds, in billions and millions of Naira, is like telling them to ‘carry go’ with however they are handling the funds. Just where is the wisdom in this?”
Already, a strongly worded petition has been fired to President Bola Tinubu by a group known as Concerned Patriots For the Integrity and Renewal of the Public Service.
Led by Mr. Ademola Adegoke, the group apprised the President of the moves to use him to stamp an illegality that could tar his administration in bad light, but also erode his Renewed Hope Agenda which is rooted in fairness, justice and probity.
Urging him not to okay the file bearing the names of the affected civil servants, the group said the President is known for being a stickler for due process and legality, having won all the election cases against him in court, and so Nigerians expect him to do the just and right thing in the tenure extension matter: refuse to agree to illegality.
