Head of Service dragged to court over Permanent Secretary selection

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, has been sued and charged for contempt of court, following her refusal to allow some directors participate in the ongoing Permanent Secretary selection processes in the Federal Civil Service as ordered by an Abuja Industrial Court.

About 17 directors disqualified by the screening committee from taking the permanent secretary written examination which held on February 21, 2022, had secured two court orders on the consultant handling the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) portal from a Magistrate Court and another court order from the National Industrial Court of Nigeria for both the consultant and the Head of Service to allow the affected candidates participate in the selection processes.

However, all court orders were ignored by the three defendants.

Counsel to the aggrieved directors, Bemdoo Hassan, who spoke to newsmen shortly after filing the contempt charges at the National Industrial Court in Abuja on Monday, noted that the HoS and the IPPIS consultant were sued due to their failure to comply with earlier court orders to open the IPPIS portal for participating directors to update their records as well as participate in the ongoing processes for the selection of Permanent Secretaries.

He said: “As you are aware, we have filed this complaint and the same was taken with motion and orders of the court were given which have been served on all the defendants and up till date as we speak, the defendants, who resisted service severally, were finally served and they have not complied with any order of the court.

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“They have been duly served and the process is still ongoing. They have deprived the claimants from further participating in the process leading to the appointment of the permanent secretaries. The laws are very clear on the next procedure to take regarding orders of the court that have not been complied with.

“As law-abiding citizens of Nigeria, we cannot take laws into our hands. The Court will do what it is supposed to do and take the appropriate steps in line with the laws of Nigeria.”

The counsel further disclosed that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), had been notified about the multiple court cases yet to be observed and as such, the final list which was expected to be transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for approval between Tuesday and Wednesday, was not complete, as there were some persons who ought to have participated in the exercise.

“We have also taken upon ourselves to notify the Attorney-General of Nigeria who is the Chief Law Officer of the Federation. We know that by so doing, he will also advise the President appropriately on disputation on the processes of appointment of the permanent secretaries to fill vacant positions in the Federal Ministries,” Hassan disclosed.

The Star