Tension is brewing in the top echelon of the Federal Civil Service following the alleged suspension of the appointment of the new Acting AccountantGeneral of the (AG-F) Federation (AG-F), Mr Shelmsudeen Babatunde Ogunjimi. President Bola Tinubu had allegedly stayed action on the appointment of Ogunjimi on the advice of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The advisory was based on the premise that the appointment could only be made at the expiration of the terminal leave of the substantive AGF, Mrs Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein.
According to the advisory, it was wrong to have a substantive AGF and acting AGF when the former was yet to complete the retirement process. New Telegraph gathered that Madein was caught unawares by the appointment of a new AGF without her input and had insisted on completing her mandatory retirement procedures before quitting the stage.
Apparently misled on the Federal Government Public Service Rules on retirement procedure, President Tinubu was said to have directed a suspension of the new appointment.
New Telegraph learnt that the issue in contention was the application of section120243 of the Federal Government Public Service Rules.
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation was said to have “wrongly” advised the President against appointing a new AGF until March 7, 2025 when the tenure of Madein expires. However, there has been a counter-argument that the President was “perfectly in order in making the appointment.”
According to section120243 of the Public Service Rules, Madein ought to have disengaged from December 7, 2024. The section says: “Officers are required to give three months’ notice to retire from service before the effective date of retirement.
“At the commencement of three months, officers should proceed immediately on the mandatory one-month pre-retirement workshop/seminar.
“For the remaining two months, retiring officers are expected to take necessary measures to put their records straight so as to facilitate the speedy processing of their retirement benefits.” A source familiar with the issue said:
“We learnt the President stayed action on Ogunjinmi’s appointment because of an advisory from the Head of the Civil Service. It is not mandatory for the outgoing AGF to be in office for the next three months.
“A civil servant going on retirement has skeletal engagement to do in office after 35 years. Actually, he or she should be preoccupied with the transition to a new occupant of the office.
“The President must end this sit-tight syndrome in public service. What we now experience is for workers not to go on pre-retirement leave. They work till the last day
