By Okechukwu Onuegbu
Some senior civil servants in Anambra State have lamented over governor Chukwuma Soludo's refusal to approve appointments of their colleagues who passed the aptitude test organised by the State government since August 2022.
The concerned civil servants, who spoke to our Correspondent under the condition of anonymity, explained that non appointment of new permanent Secretaries was impacting negatively on the State 23 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) were left to be overseeing by 6 permanent Secretaries.
"Presently Anambra State has only six(6) substantive Permanent Secretaries overseeing 23 MDAs. Some of the Permanent Secretaries are overseeing 4 MDAs. This is over labouring them. In fact, some of them find it difficult to visit all these four MDAs under them, thereby making the work cumbersome as unattended files and correspondences piled on tables waiting for attention ," one of them stated.
Also speaking, another source directly impacted by the incident, alleged "I am happy to let you know that this is my 33 years of meritorious service to Anambra State(it is just by the grace of GOD). Again I performed very well in the Computer Based Test (CBT) written interview for appointment of Permanent Secretaries that was held on Wednesday , 24th August , 2022.
"I scored above 70%. My name is amongst the list of candidates recommended by the Head of Service to Mr Governor to be appointed as Permanent Secretaries in the State. It was exactly one year on the 24th of August, 2023 since we attended this written interview. The results of CBTs are always ready at the back-end of the Computer immediately the candidate submits his or her answers."
Contributing, another source wondered why "It is taking Mr Governor this long to make these appointments. 273 candidates applied for the posts of Permanent Secretaries in the State. Over seventy of this number came from the Private Sector while the rest were core civil servants.
"The Computer Based Test was organized by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC). Mr Governor, Prof.Charles Soludo was advised that appointment of Permanent Secretaries is strictly meant for career Civil Servants but he insisted that candidates from Private Sector should be part of the exercise."
"From the result/outcome of the CBT exams , civil servants performed creditably well while the candidates from organized private sector failed woefully. Based on the above scenario Mr Governor has remained reluctant to appoint Permanent Secretaries in the State. If the reverse had been the case, he would have made the appointment long ago.
"We have lost over a year's salaries and other emoluments as it were if these appointments were made. The situation in Anambra State Civil Service has become so precarious because the service has 23 MDAs and each MDA is supposed to be manned by one (1) Permanent Secretary. Presently the State has only six(6) substantive Permanent Secretaries overseeing 23 MDAs because others have retired.
"Some of these Permanent Secretaries are overseeing 3MDAs, others 4 MDAs, this ugly practice is gradually grinding the service to a halt and it is very unhealthy for the System. Please I am pleading with the media to help make the government accountable for their actions by compelling Mr.Governor to do the needful," another source added.