*FEC only approved Paternity Leave, Enhanced Duty Tour Allowance
*As Performance Management System now replaces APER
By Eze Chidozie and Daniel Tyokua
Implementation of contentious Rule 021210 which the Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF), Dr. Folasade Femi-Esan, on July 27, 2023, instructed those she branded as “Transformational Permanent Secretaries”, the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Auditor-General of the Federation (AoGF) to immediately implement without further delay, is causing serious rumpus in the nation’s Civil Service.
This is because a wide spectrum of workers are insisting that at no time did former President Muhammadu Buhari, nor the Executive Council of the Federation (FEC), give approval to the compulsory retirement of Permanent Secretaries and Directors who have put in eight years in the civil service.
Already, workers in the medical profession had embarked on a week-long warning strike to protest what they described as “an obnoxious unilateral policy by the HoSF”, saying it negatively affect their productivity and professionalism.
At the nation’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), tongues are wagging, with majority of the affected and serving directors already drafting petitions to Dr. Esan to review the tenure policy, which they insist is without foundation, citing the non-availability of a circular to back up such policy, saying she acted unilaterally.
Investigations have however revealed that the civil servants are correct in making such claims.
It was discovered that neither former President Buhari, nor FEC gave approval to any tenure policy of eight years in the approval obtained for the Revised Public Service Rules and Duty Tour Allowance, the key source of the discontent in the public service.
For instance, on August 27, 2021, vide four-page memo with reference number EC(2021)238, presented to the Federal Executive Council by the President titled “Approval for the Revised Public Service Rules, 2021 and Duty Tour Allowance”, only two issues as stated in the title were presented before the Council; there was no mention of tenure of Premanent Secretaries or Directors anywhere in the memo.
Similarly, the nine-page FEC Conclutions spread across 507 paragraphs, discussed only the two aforementioned matters.
Our reporters gathered that the revised PSR contains 17 chapters, during which matter concerning Appointment and Leaving the Service, Prescribed Examination for Comfirmation (virtual exams), Emoluments and Increments, Performance Management System, Reward for Outstanding Work, Virtual Meetings and Engagements, Petitions and Appeals, Allowances, Compensation, Inventions, Compensation and Insurance, among others.
Highlight of the difference with the 2018 Public Service Rules included Performance Management System which replaced the old Annual Performance Evaluation Report (APER); Reward for Outstanding Work to Institutionalise Reward Recognitions Scheme (R&RE) in the Federal Public Service; Training and Capacity Development to provide more opportunities for continuous training and capacity development for enhanced service delivery, etc, were discussed and approved.
It further contained recommendations by the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC), sent to the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning (MFB&NP) and the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) for “a no-objection”.
The no-objection was confirmed by the two bodies.
Consequently, FEC approved new Duty Tour Allowance (DTA) ranging from N10,000 up from N5,000 for salary grade levels 01 to 04; N25,000 up from N12,000 (N16,000) for salary grade levels 14 to 15, ending at N80,000 up from N35,000 for Ministers, SGF, HSF and equivalent.
An innovation of the approved 2021 PSR is the introduction of Paternity Leave, to allow male workers bond with their new born children or adopted children of no more then four months old. This particular leave were solely enjoyed by the female workforce, which the approved PSF introduced.
These were the key highlights of the HSF memo presented by the President to the FEC and approved in 2021, which now has the eight-year tenure issue surreptitiously inserted, thereby raising some hairs.
