98 Directors Jostle For 16 Permanent Secretary Positions In Nasarawa State

BY AHMED TUKUR, LAFIA – No fewer than 16 Permanent Secretaries in the Nasarawa state civil service are due for retirement this year.
Already some of them have put in notices of three month retirement leave while others have started exiting service.
Checks revealed that 98 directors have so far indicated interest to replace the outgoing permanent secretaries as most of them have started engaging in high powered lobbying to make the list of the yet to be named permanent secretaries in the state.
Although the state government is yet to make a categorical statement on the format for the replacement of the permanent secretaries, they are indications that some policies might be introduced for those agitating to replace the outgoing permanent secretaries.
The policies may likely include three stages of sitting for a written examination; ICT competency in Microsoft Word, Excel and Power point; and interactive session with a broad-based panel of experts and practitioner so as to conform to the new digital policy of the present administration.
Already the state government has set up a machinery to digitalize the state civil service that will have a single data base of its entire workforce in the state in conformity with its new digital policy direction.
Further checks by Forefront indicated that most of the officers that moved from the old Plateau State following the creation of Nasarawa State and have spent 11 years and above in the Civil Service might not be considered for the permanent secretary positions.
It is expected that officers in the main stream Civil Service, who have attained 11 years and above in Plateau State Civil Service before the creation of the State would have, spend 35 years in service as the stipulated years for retirement with Nasarawa which has clocked 24 years old since its creation in 1996.