Adamawa HoS defends govt as c/servants decry ‘Illegal’ extension of perm secs tenure
•Say dev killing morale, bastardizing system
A standoff is brewing between civil servants in Adamawa State and the state government over what many workers described as the “illegal” extension of the tenure of retired permanent secretaries.
While junior and middle cadre civil servants accuse the government of undermining the service through backdoor appointments, the Head of Service, Pharm. Isa Ardo, insists the practice is legal and within the governor’s constitutional prerogative.
An investigation by this paper revealed that no fewer than six permanent secretaries currently serving in Adamawa State had already retired, but were asked to remain in office by executive fiat.
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This development, according to multiple senior civil servants who spoke on condition of anonymity, is responsible for widespread discontent, low morale, and growing indiscipline in the service.
A director on grade level 17 expressed outrage, describing the situation as “a skewed and strange anomaly which has become the new normal.”
He warned that unless urgent reforms are made, the civil service in Adamawa risks losing its professional pride and integrity.
Another worker lamented that the development has led to stagnation in career progression, particularly for directors who have been waiting for years to rise to the next level.
“It is demoralizing to see people who have reached the age of retirement still occupying seats that should have been vacated for younger officials,” the source said.
Civil servants argue that the extension of tenure for retirees not only kills morale but also breeds indiscipline, as many workers feel that hard work and merit no longer guarantee advancement.
They contended that the practice is a violation of civil service rules, which clearly stipulate that officers must retire upon attaining 60 years of age or 35 years of service.
Responding to the criticisms, Head of Service, Pharm. Isa Ardo, dismissed the claims as unfounded. In an interview with newsmen in Yola, Ardo explained that governors, like the president, have the prerogative to retain the services of retired officials on contract based on peculiar exigency and shortages of manpower.
“Generally, civil service has a window. If somebody retires and the government still needs his services, he can be given a contract appointment or tenure extension. This is at the discretion of the governor, and there is nothing illegal about it. Even the federal government has done it in the past. It is not new,” he said.
He further rejected the argument that retaining permanent secretaries hinders promotion for serving officers. According to him, contract extensions and promotions are separate issues that do not overlap.
“Let me correct that notion. If you are due for promotion, you will be promoted. Somebody’s extension does not stop another person’s promotion. Extension is a temporary arrangement for specific roles, while promotions are governed by merit, qualifications, and vacancies,” he explained.
Ardo added that the appointment of permanent secretaries is guided by specific criteria, including federal character principles and local government representation.
He disclosed that officers must not only be on level 16 or 17 but must also meet requirements such as having spent at least four years as directors and having a minimum of two years left before retirement at the time of writing the qualifying examination.
“Some complain that they have not been promoted, but many of them do not even meet the criteria to qualify. During the last examinations, some candidates were disqualified because they falsified records or did not have the required number of service years. These are issues they don’t tell the public,” the HoS stressed.
Civil servants have also accused the government of favoring certain local governments, with some LGAs producing multiple permanent secretaries while others have none.
But Ardo dismissed the allegation as baseless. He explained that appointments depend on merit and availability of qualified officers, not sentiments.
“There is no local government that has no permanent secretary. At times, more than one may be appointed from a local government if many candidates from there meet the threshold. But if nobody passes, the governor cannot just appoint people for the sake of filling vacancies. Even my own local government suffered because no one qualified. This shows that the process is merit-based,” he said.
Legal practitioner faults HoS, says gov has no powers to extend tenures after retirement
But adding his voice to the conversation, a private legal practitioner in Adamawa
Evarastus Odo faulted the HoS emphasizing that governors have no powers to extend tenures of civil servants after retirement.
” This issue affects us all. It is something we should all be concerned about. The age of retirement of any civil servant and indeed public office holders is a matter of law generally.
”The tenure of the president is fixed by law, the tenure of governor is fixed by law the retirement age of a civil servant is also fixed by law generally 35 years or 60 years of age whichever comes first and for those in the academia and other areas the ages are spelt out by law and to the best of my knowledge as a lawyer I’m not aware of any law that has made any alterations to those laws that allows the extension of anybody’s period of service.
”So the question of extension of service is something that started in a rather strange way and it seems to be spreading and we must guard against it because for one it does not help the system.
”If the people who have served till 60 years of age want to continue in service by way of extension, the younger ones will remain there. There will be stagnation. That development kills productivity because people coming behind are not encouraged to work hard knowing that they can get to certain places without putting much.
”We must check it. If government want to generally extend the retirement age for civil servants, then we should begin to think about that. The problem why this goes on is that we have a situation where those in service don’t understand that they will one day retire.
”If they understand that they will retire they should try and make the system work well so that those who retire don’t have to retire into suffering. If we are sure those who are retiring are retiring well, nobody will one to perpetuate himself in office.
”There was a time in this country when people where eager to retire. If you know when you retire you will rest, and your pension, your gratuity is enough to take care of you is being paid as at when due you won’t cut corners. But today things are different people are retiring to go and die at home.
”That is why they will try to perpetuate themselves in office. And political office holders are helping them. What we need to do is to ensure our system works well,” he said.
While reacting to the submission by the HoS to the effect that governors have the mandate to extend tenures of civil servants after retirement, Odo challenged the HoS to come up with clear evidence.
”I’m not aware of any law that gives governor powers to extend tenure of officers. Retirement is a matter of law. The head of service needs to help us with the law that empowers governors to extend tenures of civil servants so that we would be guided,” he said.
