MORE than six weeks after a circular from the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) directed some senior servants to move to new ministries, two top civil servants in charge of procurement are yet to move to their new places of deployment.
In a circular sighted by The ICIR and dated Tuesday, May 7, 2024, titled: “Deployment of procurement (pool) officers (SG1-15-17) by the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation,” the HCSF, Folashade Yemi – Esan moved some senior civil servants to new ministries and retained some.
READ ALSO: Information Ministry flouts FG directive, issues counter circular on retirement
The circular signed by the permanent secretary, career management, Adeleye Adeoye stated that the posting was with immediate effect.
The circular instructed all the deployed officers to be accepted and documented by the respective ministries. It warned that the office of the HCSF would not condone the rejection of officers.
According to the circular, all handover and taking-over processes must be completed on or before Thursday, May 16, 2024.
“All directors of human resources management/administration are required to submit details of compliance to this posting instruction to the Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office, office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation not later than Wednesday, May 22, 2024.
“All officers concerned are reminded that failure to adhere to this posting instruction contravene the provision of the Public Service Rule 100301 (b) and 020602 (iv) and will be met with appropriate sanctions,” the circular stated.
Directive flouted
Findings show that despite the strict instruction on the deadline of May 22 for the resumption of the deployed officers, some affected civil servants have refused to move to their new posting.
One of them is the deputy director (DD) of procurement in the ministry of Art, Creative Economy and Tourism, Ukpong Kufre Joseph.
Ukpong who was transferred to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) ministry to occupy the same position is yet to move The ICIR gathered. According to reliable sources from the ministry, Ukpong is still operating at the ministry of Arts and Culture despite his posting.
“I still saw him in his office yesterday (First week of July), I am not sure he is ready to move to SDG. Maybe he is still trying to clear his table,” a source said.
Contacted by the The ICIR, Ukpong, who did not accept or reject the claim, directed the reporter to the director of press in the ministry.
“As a civil servant, we don’t respond to faceless people. Under the Freedom of Information Act, you are free to access the office and get information in the manner that you ought to get.
“I am a civil servant; I don’t talk to journalists without approval from my bosses to do that. So if you feel you want to go further with this your line of questioning why don’t you write to the permanent secretary,” he stated when asked why he has not moved to his new ministry.
Another affected top civil servant is the deputy director of procurement of the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Momodu Jenifer Jeminetu.
Momodu who confirmed to The ICIR in a phone call on Thursday, July 4 that she is still the deputy director of procurement at the information ministry has been accused of not moving to the Ministry of Arts and Culture where she was posted.
A source at the office of the HCSF, said her case is unique because she was formerly at the ministry of information and culture before it was split into two.
Momodu reportedly went to the information ministry after the split and remained there but in the circular from the the HCSF, she was asked to remain at the Arts and Culture ministry.
In trying to make Momodu remain at the information ministry, the permanent secretary, Ngozi Onwudiwe personally wrote a letter to the office of the HCSF to plead on her behalf.
In the letter dated May 16 and signed by Onwudiwe, she informed the HCSF that the office of the deputy director of procurement in her ministry was not vacant.
She explained that Momodu who had been in the old ministry was moved to the new place as procurement director when the ministry was split by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Consequently, she appealed to the HCSF to leave Momodu at her current position.
“I wish to request that you kindly leave the deputy director procurement to remain in the federal ministry of information and national orientation while Mr Adamu Ibrahim be posted to federal ministry of arts, culture and creative economy or any other ministry you may deem appropriate,” she stated.
Meanwhile, sources within the office of the Head of Service told The ICIR that the new deputy director of procurement, Adamu Ibrahim posted to the ministry to replace Momodu, has been floating without a permanent office.
“The man is always loitering around there, no office for him to work because the woman has refused to leave,” a source stated.
The ICIR also gathered that the affected procurement officers wanting to remain in their current offices might be due to the upcoming 2024 procurement exercise which sources say are usually beneficial to senior civil servants and filled with fraudulent practices.
“The directors are well protected by their permanent secretary because they are all into shoddy deals through procurement that is why they are always disobeying the Head of Service but there are still some good ones who have resumed at their new postings immediately,” a source claimed.
An error?
In her response, Momodu told The ICIR that she moved to her new location but had to return due to an error.
“I was documented there but the only thing was that there was an error which the permanent secretary noticed and she wrote to the Head of Service so we are awaiting the reply.
“In government service, we obey before we complain. So I have obeyed by documenting myself in culture but there is a letter written by the perm sec,” she said.
All efforts to clarify these developments with the permanent secretary, Onwudiwe, yielded no response. After several attempts, she asked the reporter to call back because she was in a meeting.
“I am in a meeting now, call me back,” she said.
The ICIR reporter called back several times but she did not answer or return the calls. She did not also respond to messages sent to her phone.
According to a document obtained by The ICIR, the federal ministry of information and national orientation is preparing to embark on 56 projects in 2024. Sources claimed this was the reason for the disobedience of the HOSF order.
The ministry’s 2024 Procurement Planning Committee (PPC) is chaired by the permanent secretary, Onwudiwe and Momodu as secretary.
When contacted, the director of press ministry of Arts and Culture, Amadu Chidaya simply responded: “I am not aware.” But when probed further, he refused to respond.
The special adviser to the HCSF, Ibukun Fasan when contacted, directed The ICIR to the director of communication in the office of the HOSF.
‘There are consequences’
Speaking to The ICIR on the matter, the director of communications in the office of the Head of Service, Mohammed Abdullahi said there are consequences for any civil servant that refuses posting.
“Going by the civil service rule, there is a disciplinary action for anyone who refused posting. It is an offence to refuse posting,” Abdullahi stated.
This is not the first time senior civil servants will flout a directive from the office of the head of service
In August 2023, The ICIR reported that the information ministry before it was split flouted a federal government directive that all directors who have spent eight years or above should proceed on retirement in line with the revised Public Service Rules (PSR).
The directive was issued in a memo dated July 27 by the office of the HCSF, Yemi–Esan.
The revised PSR 020909 stipulates that: “A director or its equivalent by whatever nomenclature it is described in MDAs shall compulsorily retire upon serving eight years on tenure policy on the post.”
However, rather than adhere to this directive some senior civil servants disobeyed the directive.
But despite this directive, most of the affected Directors in the ministry stayed glued until a report done by The ICIR exposed their disobedience which led to their compulsory retirement.
Some of the affected persons included the director of federal government press, Itu Itu, director of finance and account (DFA), Kayode Musbau and Willie Bassey, director of information, office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
You can read the report HERE.
A reporter with the ICIR
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