http://odili.net/news/source/2011/oct/2/622.html

How North sidelines S/West in civil service * No South Westerner in top ten of federal protocol

Written by Taiwo Adisa, Group Politics Editor
Sunday, October 2, 2011

Notwithstanding the constitutional inviolability of the Federal Character Principle, which provides that no section of the country will be perpetuated in office above the other in a determined effort at ensuring equity, balance and fairness in the sharing of the nation's resources, investigations have shown that the South-West geopolitical zone has consistently been shortchanged in the application of Federal character over the years.



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Incidentally, the fault is not traceable to lack of competent hands by the zone; rather, investigations revealed that the zone has always presented its best and the best hands for the job at hand.

Sources confirmed that a cabal in the Federal Civil Service, working hand in hand with some influential forces in the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) and the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) has combined to consistently execute an agenda against candidates of the South-West.

Three instances stand out

Of the myriads of infraction against candidates of the South-West, three major appointments in recent history stand out. The appointment of the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF) in 2009, the appointment of the Clerk of the National Assembly (CNA) in 2010 and the appointment of the new Head of Service of the Federation to replace Professor Oladapo Afolabi, who retired on September 29, are the classic instances of direct marginalisation of the South-West in the Federal Civil Service.

Somehow, the instances of marginalis- ation were orchestrated by forces believed to be working for the interest of the North.

Only last week, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed the replacement for Professor Afolabi from the North-East zone, contrary to widespread indication that the president was set to appoint a candidate from the South-West, in line with the desired balancing act in the federation as designed by the constitution.

Taking the Head of Service post to the North-East, the Federal Government has, thus, completed the routing of the South-West from the top 10 of the federal protocol, the zone having earlier lost the number four slot allotted to it by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) through some insider connivance traceable to the politics of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which won majority of the House of Representatives seats from the zone.

In 2009, activities were flagged off when it was discovered that the two most senior directors in the office of Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Gabriel Ogunsina and Mr. Timothy Osonuga are from the South-West. By the rule guiding the service from independence, the two were supposed to take office one after the other.

But the unseen hands that wanted to the two South-West candidates invented a policy which indicates that the Auditor-General position could be advertised and the age classification contained in the advert deliberately sidelined the two, apparently to sideline them.

The administration of President Umaru Yar'Adua, which adopted the policy, in November 2009, forwarded the name of the then Auditor-General of Benue State, Samuel Ukura, to the Senate for confirmation, thus, striking out the two most senior directors in the office who had risen to positions of second and third in command to the Auditor-General at the time.

The case ofAuditor-General of the Federation

The FCSC had prepared a position which laid the foundation for the marginalisation of the South-West in the appointment of the Auditor-General, insinuating that the two most senior officers in the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation might not be competent to hold the substantive post.

But a career staff had stated then: "If the two most senior directors in the office of the Auditor-General, Mr. Gabriel Ogunsina and Mr. Timothy Osonuga, are not competent enough to be Auditor-General, as the Civil Service Commission tends to infer, how did they manage to rise to the position of directors? Would it not amount to self-indictment on the part of the commission that promoted them to the directorate cadre just as other civil servants in the service?"

Also in attempting to set the records straight, career auditors in the Federal Civil Service, in a petition to the president of the Senate, Senator David Mark, in November 2009, signed by Messrs Kabiru Iliya, Uzor Chimezie and James Ologbon, said the nomination of Ukura was against the rule of law and due process.

They also claimed that contrary to established procedures, the FCSC bypassed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the Head of Service (HOS) of the Federation in making the appointment.

According to them, the appointment also sidelined the career auditors in the system as the FCSC only advertised the position, against the laid down procedure.

The career auditors protested that only the position of the Auditor-General was being so treated in history, while all other positions in the service are occupied by career personnel.

The auditors wrote: "Why did the Federal Government which has been professing the principles of the rule of law and due process suddenly jettison a set of rules and guidelines collectively set by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) when it came to appointing an Auditor-General for the federation?

"Contrary to insinuations that there are no qualified officers in the office of the AGF who are eligible for the position, the committee is enjoined to investigate the educational background and experience of officers in the directorate cadre in the office of the AGF.

"This will enable the committee to confirm that there is, indeed, a conspiracy against the staff of the office. For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state here that apart from the officer currently in acting capacity as Auditor-General and who has just submitted the annual audit report in record time, as required by the constitution, there is also a director who had his first degree in 1983 and who qualified as a chartered accountant in 1988. These officers have served all their careers as federal auditors and are still being regarded as 'not qualified.'

"On the other hand, the nominee, Mr. Ukura, graduated in 1986 and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1992. We can all see through the thick veil.

"We also want the PAC to note that the work in the office of the Auditor-General is not done by the Auditor-General himself, but by the staff of the office. The government is now bringing somebody who may need between two to three years to learn on the job. It is instructive to note that the job at the state where Mr. Ukura is coming from is different from that of the federal level.

"For instance, a state Auditor-General has never handled matters relating to the Federation Account. We also state that it is morally wrong for any government for whatever reasons, to jeopardize the career of all the officers in the directorate cadre of an establishment just to favour one individual.

"The adverse implication is that the entire directorate cadre from assistant directors upward may likely retire before the expiration of the tenure of the nominee under consideration.

"This is in view of the fact that while he stated his date of birth as June 5, 1956, in his curriculum vitae, his date of birth was given as June 5, 1959 in the security reports issued on him. This has made it difficult for anyone to know which of the two dates represents his true date of birth."

An example from the OBJ days

Incidentally, the South-West has also suffered in areas it has comparative advantage. Under the leadership of Senator Anyim Pius Anyim as Senate president, the then Senate rejected the choice of Mr. Joseph Ajiboye as nominee for the AGF office on two occasions when he was presented by President Olusegun Obasanjo. The argument then was that the public finance sector at that time was lopsided in favour of the South-West, especially as the then governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the then minister of state for finance were from the South-West.

The situation in the National Assembly

In 2007, it was discovered that the time of the then CNA, Alhaji Nasiru Arab, was up since according to record, he had started work in the old Kaduna State in 1972 and should have retired in 2007 which marked his 35 years in service. But there was resistance by the NASC to let Arab go. Information later came into the open that Arab had consolidated his service records and that the new record showed that he started work in 1975.

A ding-dong was flagged off as it became obvious that a group within the NASC was actually attempting to prevent the emergence of the then Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly (DCNA), Prince Yemi Ogunyomi, who hails from Ondo State to emerge the substantive CNA. On record, no one from the South-West had served as the CNA, the chief accounting officer to the Nigerian legislature, since independence in 1960. Indeed, from 1979 to 2007, the North had held on to the position.

But Ogunyomi was in solid position to occupy the top post, having emerged the most senior civil servant in the legislature with nearly 30 years in direct service of that institution, compared to Arab, who as of then, had 15 years experience in the legislature. He (Ogunyomi) also remained the only Nigerian legislative bureaucrat who was part of the making of all Nigerian constitutions and constitution amendment processes from 1978.

Thus, it was a difficult task trying to sideline Ogunyomi. But the NASC accepted reports that Arab had consolidated his service, thereby removing the years he served as teacher between 1972 and 1975. It insisted that the then CNA would retire in 2009.

By October 2009, Arab spent one more day longer than permitted in the office, when he showed up on October 12. It took the intervention of Senate President Mark to ensure that the proper things were done and Ogunyomi named acting CNA.

Even at that, forces moving against the South-West further ensured that the letter authenticating his service as acting clerk was not released until January 2010, when his tenure had commenced as the substantive CNA.

Ogunyomi went on record as the clerk with the shortest period in office, 10 months in all, as he retired in August 2010.

Afolabi's tenure as HOS also short

Incidentally, the newly retired HOS, Professor Afolabi, also spent 10 months in office. He was named for the seat in November 2010 and left at the end of September 2011.

The scenario leading to his assumption of office was similar to that of the National Assembly and the making of the Auditor-General.

The FCSC had recommended that a thoroughbred civil servant, who grew through the ranks, should be picked as the HOS in its report to President Jonathan in 2010.

The president was, however, said to have called for a full report of the circumstances leading to the recommendations of the FCSC. He was said to have discovered that Professor Afolabi actually emerged the best for the job according to an assessment done by the same FCSC, but that a plot to perpetually sideline the Yoruba had informed the recommendation. He insisted that the best man must be given the job, a development that led to the appointment of Professor Afolabi.

Sources said the recurrence of the situation whereby South-West candidates don't last in office, even when they emerge at the top, is caused by sincerity on their age and records of service.

"Whereas many other officers from other geo-political zones would keep changing their records in the name of consolidation of service and other things, most top civil servants from the South-West present their true records and that is often used against them by certain forces which are perpetuating Yoruba marginalisation," a source said last week.