Bauchi Governor Laments Rot In Civil Service, Warns New Perm Secs

Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, has reiterated the unwavering commitment of his administration towards restoring the lost glory of the state’s civil service through the actualisation of a knowledge-driven service.

Speaking at the swearing in ceremony of the 12 newly appointed permanent secretaries at the new Banquet Hall, Government House, Bauchi, the governor regretted that at the moment, the service has lost the culture of commitment, dedication, selflessness and sacrifice.

Governor Mohammed stressed the need for civil servants to be acquainted with the norms and values of the service to avoid trial and error in the discharge of their duties and tasked permanent secretaries, directors and indeed all cadres of the civil service to be conversant with public service rules, financial instructions, stores regulations and extant circulars so as to be properly guided against committing avoidable infractions.

“Misconduct and declining productivity in the civil service are due to lack of proper monitoring and supervision. The Annual Performance Evaluation Report (APER) which is supposed to be the barometer for gauging the conduct and performance of civil servants is being flagrantly abused to the extent that it has become a mere formality done only for the purpose of promotion without consideration for the actual performance or conduct of the officers reported upon.

“It is worrisome that Heads of Personnel of the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies could not even  care to ensure that APERS are administered to their staff on a regular basis. There are instances where the APERS are administered in arrears of two to three or more years. Even where the APERS are administered, there are also instances where habitual truants, indolent or inefficient officers are rated favorably in spite of their glaring shortcomings.

“Consequently, civil servants no longer earn their promotion, but they simply wait to attain the minimum number of years for promotion to the next grade level, regardless of their conduct or performance. This ignoble practice must stop. The head of civil service and special adviser on civil service are hereby directed to take appropriate action to address the anomaly,” he said.

The governor explained that the 12 new permanent secretaries have been appointed after passing the prescribed civil service examination and in consideration of their satisfactory conduct and performance as directors and urged them to practically demonstrate their competence and justify their appointments by effectively and efficiently discharging their duties as permanent secretaries.

He added, “As civil servants, the permanent secretaries should uphold the culture of neutrality and loyalty to the government of the day. Under no circumstance should they involve themselves in partisan politics. As accounting officers of their ministries, departments and agencies, they should live above board and make accountability and transparency their watchwords. They should resist the temptation to misappropriate public funds or engage in activities capable of bringing the government into disrepute.”

Responding on behalf of the newly sworn in permanent secretaries, Ahmed Ali Ranga, permanent secretary, Political Research and Economic Affairs, office of the Secretary to the State Government, expressed gratitude to Governor Bala Mohammed for finding them worthy of the elevation and promised to justify the confidence reposed in them.