National Conference Committee on Public Service heads for part time engagement

ABUJA (National Conference Report) – “Except otherwise decided, henceforth, legislators at national and state levels would operate on part-time basis.” This was the decision of the on-going National Conference based on a recommendation by the Committee on Public Service headed by Ebele Okeke (Engineer) with Adamu Aliyu as Deputy Chairman.
 
Sources from the Conference Secretariat recently noted that the Conference decided that former State Governors and their deputies be exempted from the payment of severance allowances, life insurance and pension. It further agreed that every State of the federation should have its own State Character Commission to protect the interests of minority ethnic groups in the States.
 
Explaining their stand, the delegates said it implies that minority groups in the 36 States of the federation would soon enjoy equal treatment in appointments into the Public Service of their States. The Conference added that the objective was in consideration of the obvious restrictions to the application of the Federal Character Principles at the State and Local Government levels. The Conference also accepted the recommendation that transfers into the Directorate level of the Civil Service from outside be prohibited. Adding, there should be mandatory training as basis for consideration for promotion to the middle management level of the service.
 
According to the sources, the Committee’s recommendation that retirement age for civil servants in line with what it referred to as international best practice, be fixed at 65 or forty years of active service; from the present practice of 60 years of age or 35 years of service was rejected by the Conference. While agreeing unanimously on the Committee’s recommendation for the creation of a separate Foreign Service Commission, they also said that the Commission should be headed by a Chairman and six commissioners, one of whom should be from each of the six geo-political zones.
 
“For the disabled persons, the Conference adopted the Committee’s recommendation that efforts be made by Government at all levels to make public offices disability-friendly by providing special access facilities in line with international charters and treaties. For efficiency in the public service, the Committee also recommended the appointment of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation based on managerial capacity and rich civil service experience which it said would only be sourced from the pool of retired top civil servants,” it said.
 
“It recommended the need to minimize disparities in the public sector pay, particularly between political appointees, public officers, civil servants and the staff of Parastatals; while emphasizing a friction-free relationship between the political leadership of Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as their top civil servants. The Committee asked the Conference to adopt its suggestion that henceforth, no political appointee from Ministers to Commissioners and Local Government Chairmen should employ special advisers, special assistants and personal assistants or make any such appointments by any name called.”
 
As another cost-saving measure, the Committee recommended the amendment of Section 147(3) of the 1999 Constitution which demands the appointment by the President of at least one Minister from each State of the federation. While describing the budget as a major tool for attaining Government’s socio-economic development objectives through sectoral allocation of financial resources, the Committee said doubts have been raised recently on the efficacy of budgets.
 
The Committee further intensified that the essence of the budget reform and expenditure control is to make budget systems more transparent and ensure a more strategic approach to resource allocation and management. In order to strengthen the budget performance and expenditure management process, the Committee recommended the establishment of a national framework for monitoring and evaluation of budget performance.
 
The report further averred that in the fight against corruption, the Committee tasked anti-corruption agencies to ensure that every anti-corruption fight addresses the root cause of corruption such as poor remuneration in the public service, lack of social security and the degenerated value system which have encouraged wealth accumulation and lack of social security. On incentives for public servants, service welfare and productivity, the Committee said that the civil service is simply bereft of any meaningful benefit, especially since the implementation of the monetization policy.
 
The Committee urged the Conference to demand that relevant sections of the Pensions Reform Act requiring the investment of part of the funds from the Contributory Pension Scheme in real estate sector to boost availability of mortgage be adhered to. It recommended that a new sub-section be introduced in the 1999 Constitution to compel the Government to review public sector pay every five years, in cognizance with trends in the cost of living.
 
In the same vein, the delegates noted that a new study of job content and the pay structure  for the public and private sectors be swiftly undertaken to ensure that comparable work in the public sector as well as the private sector attracts comparable pay. As a premise for the harmonization of pay in the paraststals and agencies with what obtains in the civil service, the Committee called for immediate job evaluation in the entire public service.