President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of Civil Service Commission for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to allow career progression for civil servants in the FCT Administration.
The Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, disclosed while briefing journalists in Abuja on Friday. Wike said that in 2018, the National Assembly passed a Bill for the establishment of CSC for the FCT and was assented to by the then acting, President Yemi Osibanjo.
He said that the civil servants in the FCTA had lost hope because Directors in the Administration could not get to the apex of their careers because there was no CSC. He added that the law for the creation of the commission had been signed but nobody wanted to implement it for different reasons.
He explained that while some were afraid of what others would say, others felt the development would reduce their power and influence. The minister said that he was not aware of the existence of the law until recently.
“So, I wrote a Memo to Mr President. I say, you have a renewed hope agenda; civil servants in FCT are suffering; they have lost hope.
“They are not committed to work. Why should I be working because at the end of the day, I can’t get to the apex of my career. As such, we must implement that 2018 law as passed by the National Assembly.
“If there are challenges, of course there is no law that is perfect. You can only know the challenges when you start implementing.
“So, let’s implement, whatever the challenges are, then we can begin to talk of how we can amend it
“I can tell you authoritatively that Mr President has given the approval for the establishment of Civil Service Commission for the FCTA,” he said.
Wike explained that with this development, civil servants will go beyond directors to become Permanent Secretaries, adding, “that is the essence of the renewed hope agenda.” He called on the civil servants to thank Tinubu for this remarkable consideration after waiting for several years.
The minister said that he accepted to work with Tinubu because of his capacity and the political will to do things that other people were afraid to do. Wike pointed out that one of the problems of the country was leadership, urging that people should not be afraid of doing the right thing.
“What is important is that the action is guided by law, conscience, and guided by the interest of Nigerians and not the interest of me, the FCT minister, or any other person,” he said.