Abuja: By Segun AJAYI
Published, Thursday, October 27, 2023
A PRESSURE GROUP, DEFENDERS OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY (DCD) has called on President Bola Tinubu to withdraw the appointment of Mr. Shaakaa Chira as the Auditor General of the Federation (AuGF) and direct the Federal Civil Service Commission to follow due process in the nomination for the position.
The group also urged the Senate not to confirm the appointment alleging that it is an abuse of seniority in the Civil Service.
National Coordinator of DCD, Alhaji Abdullahi Aliyu in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday said that the President was misled by the Federal Civil Service Commission to breach the seniority order by appointing a junior director ahead of his seniors.
"Your Excellency, as a group that is committed to defending constitutional democracy, we cannot sit idle and watch when things are not going well. The appointment of Mr. Shaakaa Chira is in complete breach of Civil Service Rules and Regulations.
"Mr. President, we will to request that you withdraw the appointment with immediate effect and order for the right thing to be done.
"Firstly sir, Mr. Shaakaa Chira is number 18 on the seniority list of directors in the Office of Auditor General. There are 17 directors who are his seniors. He was promotes to the rank of director in 2022 and should not have been nominated and appointed over and above very senior directors. He has been in only one dept since 2010 and started heading a deparmentt only last year December,
The man was promoted jan 2021,the exercise conducted was from sept 2022- early 2023.
"Secondly, no reason was given for the sudden jettisoning of the first process for the appointment of Auditor General, which was concluded in 2021. Why was that initial process cancelled and some directors prevented from participating in the latest arrangement that produced Mr. Chira?", The group queried.
While giving further reasons for a reversal of the appointment, Alhaji Aliyu submitted that "Besides being a junior director, Mr. Chira has not headed any unit before his shocked appointment as AuGF.
The Group said that if the appointment is allowed to stand, it would " breed rancour and disharmony within the rank of directors who are far senior to the appointee and therefore, the whole essence of reforming the audit sector and indeed the Civil Service would have been defeated.
"In view if this, the DCD is appealing to the Senate not to confirm the appointment of Mr. Shaakaa Chira as Auditor General of the Federation but insist that the relevant Civil Service Rules and Regulations are followed to the latter in the appointment of a new AuGF.
"We want the distinguished Senate to know that with the announcement of a junior director as the AuGF, the morale of career officers in the Office of Auditor General of the Federation has dropped to all time low because this distortion has never happened in the history of the Civil Service.
"We advised that this appointment should be based on merit and professionalism and not turned into a political affair", the group advised.
END
No comments:
Post a Comment