Commission To Review Outstanding Promotions

The Rivers State Civil Service Commission, has disclosed plans to review the huge backlog of promotions pending in the ranks of civil servants in the state.

Chairman of the Commission, Sir Ngo Martyns-Yellowe gave the hint on Tuesday during a chat with newsmen in Port Harcourt.

Though he did not give the actual statistics of those eligible for the promotions, he disclosed that the commission would begin fresh promotion interviews for senior civil servants in the state.

Sir Martyns-Yellowe declared, “we are prepared and by the grace of God the problem that is challenging to us is the promotions interview, that has been outstanding since this year, because it is supposed to be conducted twice in a year.”

The Tide independent investigations, however, revealed that the commission was bedeviled with lots of promotion falsifications over the years, hence, the plan by the commission to study the situation on ground.

Over the years, it was further learnt that corruption and nepotism had rocked the place, forcing the Governor to reconstitute the board.

Governor Chibuike Amaechi while inaugurating the new commission members last month urged them to check corruption in the system. He insisted that merit should be the basis of any promotion in the service as he tasked them to help purge and revitalise the civil service for maximum productivity.

Similarly, the State Local Government Service Commission, says it would commence investigations into the huge corruption rocking the retirement and promotion process in the service.

Chairman of the commission, Chief Azubuike Nmerukini told reporters on Tuesday that there were lots of document falsifications in the system, “I have taken authority from the state Governor to investigate and do something about this, because we have a lot of petitions”.

He noted that the problem arose from the fact that a lot of the civil servants falsify their employment letters to avoid being retired from service, even when they are overdue, “we are not forcing people to go but at least when you are due to go you should go”.

By November, he stated that the commission would commence a fresh promotion exercise, noting that many workers were overdue for promotion.

Commenting on the independence of the local government councils, Chief Nmerukini argued that a total independence of the third tier of government was unatainable considering the peculiar nature of the federal system in the country.

Chief Nmerukini further said, “the responsiblity is so enormous if you look at functions of the local councils”.

In the light of this, he maintained that it would be difficult to have independent local councils, adding, “if the state government did not take over the payment of teachers and sanitation, no local council would have been able to function today in the state.”

President Goodluck Jonathan (middle) cutting the tape to inaugurate the new Federal High Court complex in Minna yesterday while Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu (left) and Chief Judge of Federal High Courts, Justice Ibrahim Auta (right) and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), watch