The New Era for Sustainable Leadership and Accountability Initiative (NESLAI), an NGO has urged the Federal Government to appoint career civil servants as Permanent Secretaries for efficiency.
The Executive Director of NESLAI, Mr Edwin Olorunfemi, made the call at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to Olorunfemi, appointing career civil servants that have grown through the ranks will lead to efficiency and commitment in service.
“It is important that at this point of our national life, we must ensure we make the right decisions as opportunity geared toward national growth and development presents itself.
“Being a responsive, concerned civil society organisation with keen interest in the entrenchment of good, efficient leadership in our public institutions, we have embarked on an independent research, and analysis.
“We done a critical appraisal of the process of selection and appointments, many of which have kept the country running and moving in a circle without achieving anything.
“It is imperative to note that we cannot continue to do same thing all the time and expect different results. This is a common trap we all as Nigerians have all fallen into,’’ he said.
Olorunfemi appealed to the Federal Government that as vacancies open for appointment of Permanent Secretaries, round pegs should be put in round holes.
He said that there should be a workable template and mechanism that would see to the emergence of best hands for the job.
Olorunfemi said that selection examination should be jettisoned, considering its cost implication coupled with the corruption it breeds in the system.
“Set up committees and invite all the candidates for an interactive section, this we believe will help save cost, time and streamline the numbers instead of having to conduct examination that has no direct bearing on the job description,’’ he said. (NAN)
