Strengthening The Public Service For Transformation

Being exerpt of a communique issued at the 41st conference of civil service commission in the feeration, held at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, Rivers State from Wednesday June – Saturday June 9, 2012.

1.0  Introduction

1.1       The 41st conference of Civil Service Commissions in the Federation was held at the Hotel Presidential Port Harcourt. Rivers State, from Wednesday, 6th to Saturday, 9th June, 2012 under the chairmanship of the Honourable Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Deaconess Joan Olatoyosi Ayo, OON. It was attended by delegates from the Federal and States Civil Service Commissions in the Federation. The Theme of the conference was “The Transformation Agenda and the Public Service in Nigeria.”

1.2       The Conference was declared open by His Excellency, the President Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of represented by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Isa Bello Sali, CFR. In his address, Mr. President pointed out that the Conference was held at a significant period in the life of his Administration, and that the Civil Service tradition of excellence could only be achieve if there was a paradigm shift, resulting in effective, efficient and measurable service delivery. He disclosed that his Administration had made a deliberate attempt to ensure the aviailability of core competences and retention of great talents, ad well as offering automatic employment yearly to recipients of Presidential Award under the National Youth Service Corps Scheme (NYSC). He reminded delegates of his directive that vacancies in Chief Executive positions of strategic Federal Government Agencies be publicly advertised to allow for competitiveness to ensure that only the very best are appointed into Executive Positions.

1.3       Delivering his address, the Executive Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Rt. Honourable Rotimi Amaechi, CON, represented by the Deputy Governor, Engr. Tele Ekuru, welcomed Mr. President and the delegates to Port Harcourt, the Garden City, Capital of Rivers State. He identified with the Theme of the Conference and challenged the Civil Service Commissions in the Federation to ensure that their decisions must be objective and timely, in line with global best practices.

1.4       Earlier in her address, the Honourable Chairman of the Federal Civil Service  Commission welcomed Mr. President, the Executive Governor of Rivers State and the delegates to the Conference. She expressed her gratitude to Mr. President and the Executive Governor of Rivers State for their overwhelming support in making the Conference a huge success. She emphasized that in the discharge of the mandate of the Commissions, decisions taken would strictly be based on standards, professionalism, efficiency, transparency and strict adherence to rules and regulations. The Commissions will have zero tolerance for all forms of corrupt practices.

1.5       The following conference Papers were presented;

i)          “Managing Change in the Nigeria Civil Service: The issue of Performance Management System as a Prelude and complement to Performance Management Contract Process” by Alhaji Isa Bello Sali, CFR, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

ii)         “Transformation Agenda of the Jonathan Administrtion and States Capacities: The Place of the Civil Service” by Stephen Oronsaye, CFR, former Head of Civil Service of the Federation.

iii)        “Civil Service Performance Contracting Imperatives for Stemming Infrastructural Decay in the Nigerian Economy” by Dr. Dahiru Sani of Kaduna Business School.

iv)        “Performance Contracting in the Nigeria Civil Service: A Management Tool for Effective Service Delivery (Focus on the Nigeria Education Sector)” by Dr. Seth Akutson of Kaduna Business School.

2.0       RESOLUTIONS

2.1       At the end of deliberations, the conference adopted the following resolutions:

i.          The there should be regular liaison between the Federal Civil Service Commission and the States Civil Service Commissions as a matter of policy on all issues of common interest.

ii.         Both the Federal and States Civil Service should deepen and sustain the various reforms being undertaken in order to have an effective and efficient Civil Service which would provide quality service delivery to the people.

iii.        The conference noted the desirability of introducing Performance Contracting to replace the current promotion examination in conformity with global best practices. In this regard, it was suggested the Commissions should experiment with some Miinistries.

iv.        The Conference observed the inadequate funding of the Civil Service Commissions in the country and therefore called for proper funding and sufficient budgetary provisions, to enable the commissions execute their constitutional mandate effectively.

v.         The Conference reiterated that henceforth, only persons with public service antecedents should be appointed as members of States Civil Service Commissions as it obtains at the Federal level;

vi.        The staff of Civil Service Commissions in the Federal should be motivated by payment of not lower than 25% of their monthly basic salary;

vii.       The Conference noted the ambiguity in the interpretation of Section 153, 158 and 170 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and therefore set up an Ad-hoc Committee to examine the Provisions as they relate to the functions of the Civil Service Commissions in Nigeria;

viii.      That there should be systematic and intensive training and retraining for the development of officers to improve their capacities in the discharge of their duties;

ix.        That Permanent Secretaries of the States Civil Service Commission should benefit from training and retraining programmes of the Federal Permanent Secretaries;

x.         That Permanent Secretaries from all the States Civil Service Commissions should meet bi-annually to assess the level of implementation and impact of decisions taken at the Annual Conference;

xi.        That the 42nd Conference has been scheduled to hold in Delta State next year (2013).

3.0       CONCLUSION

3.1       Finally, the Conference appreciated the excellent hospitality extended to participants by the Government and good People of Rivers State, in making their stay exceptionally comfortable.