Ganduje Warns Civil Servants Against Partisanship …..as He Swears-in New Permanent Secretaries
Following his decision to overhaul the state civil service, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state has sworn in new permanent secretaries few weeks after the dissolution of all hitherto permanent secretaries.
He explained that, “we decided to strengthen and make our civil service work for democracy and good governance. Our resolve is to let the civil servants know that business is not going to be as usual. We need committed and dedicated civil service, that does not dabble into politics.”
He made the statement during the administration of Oath of Allegiance and swearing-in of new permanent secretaries, which took place at Africa House, Government House, Kano, Sunday, emphasising that, “We need to overhaul the civil service for better.”
The new permanent secretaries are 36 in number, with women carrying 30 percent of the total number. Female constitutes 11 in number. Which he described that, the administration as being gender sensitive.
A development which led governor Ganduje to beat chest and say “In the history of the civil service in Kano, there was never a time when we got 11 female Permanent Secretaries. This is a giant stride we started.”
Governor Ganduje directed that, all the newly appointed Permanent Secretaries must be ICT-compliant, insisting that, “If you are analogue you must transit to Information and Communication Technology (ICT). We are bridging all gaps to become modern and more productive public service.”
All the permanent secretaries would be assessed periodically within the period of three months, explaining that, “We shall assess your commitment, performance, conviction and human management as a whole. We put in place performance indicators.”
After congratulating them he directed them to always be concern about staff discipline for good service delivery. Warning that leakages of government information would not be tolerated.
Inclusion of some professionals, according to the governor was done deliberately to move the service to the next level. “We have Engineers, Doctors, media people and other professionals included in this new arrangement. So as to tap from the experience and expertise of many,” he explained.
He charged them to take the issue of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) very serious. Lamenting that, in the last few months the federal allocation has been dropping. Kano, as a commercial nerve centre of the North, he argued, should evolve ways for developing the state.
Arguing further that “We are taxing the rich to improve the quality of life of the poor.”
“This issue of IGR is one of the challenges that would come your way as Perm Secs. It should be good for you and all to understand that, revenue is very critical to our development,” he reminded.
Encouraging teachers to strive hard and reach such positions in the civil service, Ganduje said “For teachers, they should be aware that the era of neglecting teachers that are professionals has gone.
In the past when you reach to the position of Principal, then you have done it all. But we said professional teachers can be Permanent Secretaries also.”
On drug test, Ganduje assured that the first stage of their assessment is, his government would write letters to the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for drug test of those newly appointed Perm Secs.
Disclosing that, henceforth all political appointments, would also go through drug test before an appointment is confirmed. This, he added, was an effort to make sure that, his administration is working with people of sound thinking and performance.
“Our four years to come must be active. We will not condone anything below standard. And I am warning all appointees in the civil service to always be committed to their work and abhor being partisan. Partisanship is not allowed in civil service. And should not be seen to be allowed for whatever reason,” he warned.
He further disclosed that, after the position of Permanent Secretaries, “…we are going to Directors, Deputy Directors and Assistant Directors. We are just making sure that, we overhaul the system for effective and efficient service delivery.”
Anwar is the Chief Pres Secretary to the Governor of Kano State
