Association Says, “5,000 Civil Servants may not Receive November, 2023 Salary” 

Hitherto, the number had been as high as seventeen thousand (17,000), according to revelations from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF).

Addressing the media in Abuja on Tuesday, the National President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants in Nigeria (ASCSN), Dr. Tommy Okon, said that a total of 2,772 persons had been verified and their names forwarded to the Integrated Personal and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) for payment, whereas the names of 5,000 workers who had discrepancies are to be forwarded to their Director, Human Resources, for confirmation.

“As you are aware that the physical verification exercise of the 17,000 core civil servants, who were delisted from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), was concluded in October, 2023. And those involved were in high spirits, waiting for their monthly salary, which was stopped since September, 2023, to be restored.

“As of today, only those who had earlier completed their verification exercise but were mistakenly delisted have had their salaries restored, while 5,000 civil servants still have discrepancies in their dates of first appointment and dates of birth.

“A total of 2,772 have been verified and forwarded to IPPIS for payment because there were no issues. The names of 5,000 workers who have discrepancies are to be forwarded to their DHR for confirmation,” he said.

Six teams, he said, were working to ensure that the exercise was completed on time.

Dr. Okon advised public servants to develop the habit of checking the Head of Service website for regular updates.

“We have confirmed that the salary for the month of November, 2023 is concluded. Therefore, those affected will not be able to get their salary for the month of November.

“However, effort is being made by the HOSF to ensure that those cleared will get their salaries for December, 2023, including the arrears from September.

“We appeal to the federal government through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to expedite action to ensure that the salary of December is not delayed, while we urge our members to exercise patience, as we are doing everything within the ambit of the law to ensure that the issues are resolved expeditiously,” said the National President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants in Nigeria (ASCSN), Dr. Tommy Okon.

Speaking on the recent promotion examination for directors aspiring to attain the position of Permanent Secretaries, the ASCSN President, expressed displeasure at the claim that some of its members were calling for the cancellation of the exams.

“Gentlemen of the press, let me also invite your attention to what we call miscarriage of facts by the social media handlers on the recent promotion examination for directors aspiring to the office of the Permanent Secretaries and a faceless group called ‘senior civil servants’.

“We have followed with great concern and dismay, recent publications in a section of the social media claiming that civil servants have called for the cancellation of the promotion exams for directors aspiring for the position of permanent secretaries in the Federal Civil Service.

“The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria is a registered and recognized trade union listed in the Third Schedule of the Trade Unions Act as well as by the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette.

“Therefore, it is absolutely unacceptable and questionable for the purported group to propagate the alleged comments of faceless individuals, who claim to be civil servants as though their opinions are those of the entirety of the service.

“What is more disturbing is the demand of the group to circumvent meritocracy in the civil service with regards to the very critical task of selecting eligible directors for appointment to the post of permanent secretary,” Dr. Okon explained.

Quoting relevant laws, he recalled that Chapter 2, Sections 020811-020813 on promotion, in the Revised Public Service Rules (PSR), prescribes the eligibility criteria and selection process for the post of permanent secretary and listed them as follows:

The candidate must:

a. be a director on Grade Level (GL) 17 and in the main stream of the Federal Civil Service;

b. have been verified on the IPPIS portal/ platform as having been confirmed as a staff of the Federal Government of Nigeria;

c. be at least two (2) years on the post of director;

d. not be retiring on or before the 31st of December of the following year;

e. provide proof of indigeneship of the state where vacancy exists;

f. Indigeneship of a state must not be by marriage in case of a female            civil servant; and

g. not have a pending disciplinary action against him.

He noted that the Public Service Rules state that the selection shall be through a competitive examination process, including but not limited to written examination, test of ICT proficiency and an oral interview, and resource persons from the Civil/Public Service and private institutions may be involved in the selection process

Over time, according to Dr. Okon, the Civil Service has suffered exponential decadence of its pool of highly skilled and knowledgeable officers. And the Association of Senior Civil Servants in Nigeria cannot continue to pay lip service to the need to scale up the quality of the civil servants, especially those at the senior level who are expected to demonstrate “impeccable character and capability to drive government projects and programmes”.