Finance Ministry: Lydia Jafiya Assumes Office As Permanent Secretary

The new Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Lydia Jafiya has officially taken over at the headquarters of Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja.

The Minister of Finance and Co-Ordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, while welcoming the new Permanent Secretary of Finance said; “The ceremony is a family event, one family and one Ministry so I  assure you of working as a team.”

The Minister further advised that work in the Ministry should continue in the spirit of fellowship, common purpose, brotherly love, sisterly love and most importantly communal efforts, stressing  that “when we work and continue along those principles, we will achieve much.”

Edun said; “There are lots of expectations bestowed on us, and it is up to us to live up to those expectations.”

The new Permanent Secretary Finance, Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya said; “The pleasure is mine to be welcomed to Federal Ministry of Finance as the Permanent Secretary Finance.

“My deployment by the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval to the Federal Ministry of Finance is to join the Minister of Finance and Co-Ordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to execute the Ministerial Performance Bond of the Presidential Priorities and deliverables signed with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the Presidential Retreat.”

Mrs Jafiya stated that Federal Ministry of Finance has a rich history of high performance in the management of the National Economy and with the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy who is also saddled with the role of coordinating the Nation’s Economy.

She said;  “We need to do more. We shall all work together to align the activities of this Ministry with the Six (6) Pillars of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plans 2021 – 2025 (FCSSIP25) for high impact performance.

“This will entail strong commitment to the full actualization of the Digitization Policy of the Nigerian Government (i.e. the Enterprise Content Management System), Human Resource Management component of the IPPIS, Capacity Building /Talent Management, Performance Management System (to replace the old Aper form assessment method), Innovation and Staff Welfare where reward and recognition will be given attention.”

Mrs Jafiya further promised, “For me as your Permanent Secretary Finance, I will welcome suggestions and advice on how to move the Ministry forward as we constructively engage with other strategic partners and critical stakeholders locally and Internationally towards fulfilling the mandate of the Renewed Hope agenda.”

While sincerely thanking the Permanent Secretary Special Duties Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr. Okokon Udo, who has been holding – forth since the retirement of her predecessor, Aliyu Ahmed, she emphasized, “We have to work together as a team and in strict adherence with code of ethics and extant rules/regulations in the conduct of government business.”

Earlier the Permanent Secretary Special Duties Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr. Okokon Udo said; “today’s handing over is just a formality, that the Permanent Secretary Finance had already resumed duty since but the office chose to do the official handing over ceremony today.”

Udo while assuring the new Permanent Secretary Finance of his support and cooperation, said she needed not to be tensed about the Ministry that it was a familiar terrain.

He also thanked the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, for the fatherly role he has been playing and for being so inspirational in taken decisions to ensure things are on the right path and for
always squeezing time out of his busy schedules to show that he is always there for us no matter what.

Mrs.Lydia Shehu Jafiya had resumed duty at Federal Ministry of Finance but the official handing and taking over ceremonies were done Tuesday.

Mrs. Omobola Olushola-Dada, the Director of Human Resource Development Federal Ministry of Finance pledged the allegiance of the staff to do their best in order to achieve the mandate of the Ministry and wished the new Permanent Secretary Finance well.

Mercy Chukwudiebere