Appointments: FG Creates Five New Directorate Positions

The Federal Government
has created five new directorate positions for indigenes of  Ebonyi and Bayelsa states to address the imbalance in federal appointments.
The Permanent Secretary, Dr George Ossi, in the Federal Ministry of Aviation, announced the measure in Abakaliki during an interactive session with federal civil servants in the state.
Ossi said indigenes of both states had been deployed to man the positions.
“The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, an Ebonyi indigene, and the head of the civil service of the federation are collaborating in this regard.
“The citizens of both states should be patient as correcting such imbalance follows a gradual process and the result shows that their indigenes are gaining more federal appointments,” he said.
Ossi, also an indigene of Ebonyi, said the purpose of the interactive session was to ascertain the challenges faced by federal civil servants in the course of their duties and to address them.
“This will ensure that necessary actions in line with the ongoing public service reforms are taken to boost your morale and enlighten you on efforts by the federal government to improve the service.
“In his bid to reinvigorate the service and place it on a better pedestal, the head of service has promoted the buy-ins and participation of all federal civil servants, including those serving in the states,” he said.
He also informed the workers of the reforms by the government to improve their productivity and urged them to put in their best in ensuring the success of the reforms.
“These reforms include SERVICOM, tenure system recently introduced among top level officers, Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and contributory pension, among others,” he said.
The Ebonyi State Head of Service, Mrs Ugo Nnachi, said the state government’s development programme was anchored on a tripod.
Nnachi listed the programmes as civil service reforms, infrastructural development and attitudinal change.
She said the government had implemented programmes to restructure the state civil service, including the construction of a modern secretariat and training for more than 4,000 workers on the use of information and communication technology.
Mrs Ann Agom-Eze, the Permanent Secretary in the state’s ministry of lands and survey, urged the federal government to fix the retirement age of civil servants above 60 years.
According to her, judges retire at 70 while lecturers retire at 65; so civil servants should be given the same treatment.
Workers took turns to comment and ask questions about government plans and activities to enhance the civil service and improve the workers’ welfare.

L-R: The Chairperson, International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Enugu branch, Mrs Nkiru Ugwu-Nwabueze, Solicitor-General, Enugu State, Mrs Chiemelie Onaga and chairman of the occasion, Prof. Frank Asogwa, at the celebration of FIDA week in Enugu, recently.