FCTA Workers Protest against Appointment of New Perm Sec

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC) of Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has condemned the action of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HoS), Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, to deploy Dr Magdalene Ajani as the new FCT Permanent Secretary.

Ajani, was over the weekend, deployed from the Ministry of Transportation as the next FCT permanent secretary to replace Mr Olusade Adesola, who is due to proceed on retirement on January 29.

But JUAC led by Matilukuro Korede, yesterday at a protest, insisted on the full implementation of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Law, 2018, which provided for the appointment of a permanent secretary from the pool of FCTA directors.

 Korede described her deployment as an aberration of the FCT CSC Law, which the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had in October 2023, approved to be implemented for FCT.

He noted by the spirit of that law,  Yemi -Esan did not have the imprimatur to appoint a permanent secretary for the FCT.

“On Thursday, we heard that the head of service has announced that she has gotten approval from President Bola 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 recalled 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.

“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,” Korede said.

The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike had in October last year, declared he had the approval of  Tinubu to establish CSC for the FCT.

Before now, the highest any civil servant in the FCT Administration could attain was the position of a director.

Korede stressed 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.

“But between now and then, the law must be obeyed and what we know is that FCT CSC has come to stay,” he added.