AGF: Head of Service violating extant regulations, making mockery of public service – CSOs

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has accused the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HoCSF), Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, of violating the extant regulations of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and making a mockery of public service with the delay in the appointment of Accountant General of Federation (AGF).

Addressing newsmen on behalf of the coalition Wednesday in Abuja, President Civil Society Groups for Good Governance (CSGGG) Comrade Ogakwu Dominic Ogakwu said the group was worried about the discordant issues arising from the vacant office of the AGF.

He said: “This press conference has become imperative in the face of the divergent opinions and conflicting conspiracy theories, shrouding the delay in the appointment of a new substantive AGF, particularly because of the critical role of the Accountant-General in a nation at a crossroads like ours, with myriads of crippling challenges, paramount among them being the depleting and almost empty national treasury.”

“After the unholy exit of the former AGF ,who is standing trial for financial misappropriation, necessity is laid on the Head of Service of the Federation to invoke the powers of paragraph two (2) of the Federal Establishment Circulars – Ref. No. SGF.50/s.II/C.2/268, which reads; “Furthermore, pending the appointment of a substantive Head of Extra-Ministerial Department/Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of Parastatals, Agency, Commission and Government-owned company, the outgoing Chief Executive Officer must handover to the next most senior Officer of the establishment, as long as the officer does not have any pending disciplinary matter.

“Outgoing Heads of Extra-Ministerial Department, Parastatals, Agencies, Commissions and Government-owned Companies, are not allowed the discretion of choosing the officer to whom they would handover,” Ogakwu said.

The group argued that the reluctance of the Head of Service to interpret this paragraph within context, could be construed as a deliberate violation of extant regulations of the federal republic of Nigeria.

“…Our major concern here is that, this inaction, be it by commission or omission, has stirred the hornets’ nest, with attendant infighting and rift tearing treasury staff apart, public employees who should otherwise be channelling their creative energies towards managing the nation’s finances better, so as to get Nigeria out of the woods and give Nigerians a breath of life!

“Even more curious is the fact that the current Head of Service benefitted from the rule in question, hence Nigerians now wonder, and for good reason, whether the rule which benefitted some public stewards doesn’t apply to others? After all, what is good for the goose is good for the gander?

“Besides, CSGGG vehemently believes that apart from the fact that the most senior director is being denied the entitlements due him or her for his or her diligent service to our fatherland, it is also true that our nation is mindlessly being robbed of the wealth of experience which that individual has garnered over the years, in readiness to bail the nation out of the current financial challenges bedevilling her.

“Therefore, to arrest this untoward development and set the Nation’s public Service back on the right trajectory, CSGGG hereby calls on President Muhammadu Buhari, the Head of Service of the federation, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and all those who are entrusted with the sanctity of our public service system, to immediately do the needful and put an end to this unholy trend of making a mockery of our public service  and turning Nigeria into a laughing stock in the league of nations,” the group further stated.