Government Stops Redeployment, Transfer Of Service

Mrs. Joan Ayo

The Federal Government on Wednesday in Abuja said it had put a stop to redeployment and transfer of service for civil servants in its pay roll.

The Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Mrs. Joan Ayo, made the announcement during an interactive forum organised by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Danladi Kifasi, for workers as part of activities to commemorate the 2015 Nigeria Civil Service Day.

At the event, Kifasi called on civil servants to “think critically” and proffer solutions to the harsh economic realities in the country, rather than waiting for government to meet their demands.

Ayo said that transfer of service, especially from the state level to the federal civil service or vice versa, had been “constituting serious challenges in promotion exercises.”

She also said the FCSC would no longer entertain complaints from officers over “proper placement”, saying it was an aberration to do so.

She said, “It is henceforth an aberration for officers to come to us complaining that they want proper job level placement, as far as we are concerned, there is nothing like ‘proper placement’ in the service.

“I give you an example: if somebody has been teaching in a private school for 10 years and later apply to join the civil service, he or she should not expect to get the same level of appointment with somebody who joined the service 10 years ago because that person that joined 10 years ago must have gotten the cognate experience.”

According to her, the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and other stakeholders are working at re-enacting the core values of the civil service, particularly on discipline, anonymity, impartiality and patriotism. She said the Nigerian civil service was reputed for these values.

Kifasi suggested that the economic crisis should spur civil servants in the country to face challenges.

The HOCSF, who spoke in reaction to the inability of some governors to pay salaries, said the era when civil servants performed their duties with disinterest and expect to draw salaries at the end of each month was over.

He said, “Everybody is aware of the several challenges facing Nigeria and Nigerians currently, but the ability to think critically to solve problems that we are not usually accustomed to is what I meant when I said civil servants must think critically now.

“You acquire knowledge through experience; a critical thinking mind will look at situations differently and provide solutions. That is what youths in America are doing by continuously developing new ways of doing things and that is exactly what we want our officers to do.”