Yenagoa
The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have kicked against the decision of the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, to extend the service of the retired Head of Service, Dr. Peter Singabele, by six months.
Other groups that have joined the labour unions to criticise the extension are the Bayelsa First Initiative and the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Bayelsa State chapter.
But a statement sent through the office of the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, had said the extension of Singabele’s appointment was in exercise of the governor’s executive powers.
The statement quoted the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff, as saying
that the extension was informed by the numerous important ongoing service-related issues being handled by Singabele.
It said allowing the retired Singabele “to leave the service now” could be detrimental to the administration’s programme of repositioning the civil service for greater efficiency.
Dickson had also extended the appointment of Mr. Joseph Akedesuo as Permanent Secretary and Head of State Protocol Services for a period of one year.
Apart from the opposition by the NLC and other groups, the action of the governor was said to be causing bad blood among the permanent secretaries and other senior civil servants, who allegedly accused Dickson of violating the civil service rules.
The NLC and TUC called on Dickson to appoint a new HoS to fill the exalted vacant position with immediate effect. The state NLC Chairman, Mr. Ndiomu Bipre, and his TUC counterpart, Mr. Tari Dounana, in a statement, warned against the politicisation of the HoS office in the state.
According to them, no HoS stays in office beyond the
retirement age of 60 or 35 years, whichever is applicable. They said, “The continuous stay of the current Head of Service, Dr. Peter Singabele, beyond the retirement age of 60 years or 35 years in service is a source of worry to workers in the state.
The Public Service Rule 02081 is very clear about retirement of public servants. “As a career civil servant, we expect the Head of Service to step aside or refuse any form of tenure elongation in order not to truncate promotion in the civil service.
“The NLC and the TUC call on the Civil Service Commission to properly guide government on the appointment of the Head of Service, as stipulated in the Public Service Rule, to strengthen and motivate the workforce.” On its part, the BFI said there was no basis for Dickson to extend the appointment of Singabele.
The Director-General, BFI, Chief Nathan Egba, accused the governor of manipulating the government’s institutions and policies to advance his personal interests. Egba said, “This development is coming on the heels of the Bayelsa State Government’s inability to pay salaries of their civil servants, teachers, university lecturers, local government employees as well as retirees, after series of staff verification exercises since January of this year.
“Workers of some local governments, like Ogbia, are being owed up to 13 months salaries in spite of the bailout funds that were released to the state last year
by the Federal Government. “We, in the BFI, do not doubt Dr. Singabele’s integrity or capacity.
If anything, we applaud his meritorious service to the state, but we do not believe that there is no other civil servant qualified enough to occupy that exalted office in the entire Bayelsa State Civil Service”.
Also, the leadership of the state’s branch of the ASCSN rejected the extension of Singabele’s and Akedesuo’s appointments.
The group, in a statement by its Secretary, Mr. Ebi Sikpi, said the contract appointments were a violation of the Public Service Rules. Quoting the rule, he said, “No officer shall be allowed to remain in service after attaining the retirement age of 60 or 35 years of pensionable service, whichever is earlier
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