Directors, others jostle for vacant federal civil service positions

The Federal Government has commenced the process of selecting 16 new permanent secretaries to fill vacant positions in the civil service.

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier approved the selection of 16 new permanent secretaries following recommendations by the HCSF, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan.

14 of the new 16 Permanent Secretaries, when appointed will replace outgoing Permanent Secretaries in 14 states, while two are to fill existing vacancies in two other states.

The 14 state whose tenure of permanent secretaries would soon elapse are Kwara, Kebbi, Abia, Anambra, Cross River, Kaduna, Kano, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe and Jigawa states who will retire in 2020, while the existing vacancies are in Zamfara and Kogi states.

According a reliable source in the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF); suitable candidates who had earlier applied for the positions and later shortlisted for the exercise began the exams on Thursday.

While over 100 of participants physically attended the exams under strict observance of social distancing, the rest who could not attend due to interstate travel restriction participated through video conferencing.

It was also gathered that seven Foreign Service officers successfully participated in the video conferencing exam under the supervision of security agents at the centres.

An earlier circular on the exercise issued by the office of the Head of Civil of the Federation on the replacement of the 14 outgoing permanent secretaries and appointment of two into vacant positions said, “Consequently, officers in the main stream of the Federal Civil Service, who attained the substantive rank of Director, on Salary Grade level 17 on or before 1st January, 2018, who had updated their records on the IPPIS Verification Portal and are from Kwara, Kebbi, Abia, Anambra, Cross River, Kaduna, Kano, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe, Jigawa, Zamfara and Kogi States; and are not retiring from the service earlier than, or on 31st December, 2021, are eligible to participated.