President Muhammadu Buhari has given assurance that recommendations of the Orosanye White Paper Report will be implemented after review.
To this end, the President said he had directed that the report be subjected to immediate review to enable government take the most appropriate decision on its general recommendation.
President Buhari disclosed this in Abuja while receiving members of the Central Working Committee of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, at the State House.
He noted that the report had recommended some fundamental changes in the structure of the Civil Service, hence the need to subject it to rigorous review and scrutiny before presentation and implementation.
The President assured that the administration would remain focused on strengthening the service to ensure the fulfillment of its objectives.
He said the Civil Service must not be seen as a dumping ground for job seekers, adding that it must attract the best and the brightest who would contribute fresh ideas and a determination to solving the country’s socio-economic problems.
President Buhari appreciated civil servants for their role in realising targets of the administration, stressing that Civil Service is the bedrock on which good governance, policy execution and pathways for the delivery of democratic dividends can be achieved.
On the committee’s request for salary review for civil servants, the President acknowledged the urgent need for a general salary review in the federal public service due to worldwide problems of high inflation amidst general economic disruption.
He however urged them to appreciate the revenue constraints being presently faced by government, caused mainly by the theft of crude oil, which is a major contributor to Nigeria’s revenue base.
On the harmonisation of salary in the public service, the President said a committee was set up for that purpose, under the Minister of Finance, which is still being worked on.
President Buhari said the Head of Service of the Federation had been directed to liaise with other relevant government agencies to see how the 2023 budget estimates could accommodate an increase in the budget of Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board.
President Buhari also explained that investment in security assets had been at a huge cost, after several decades of negligence, but that his confidence in the Nigerian Armed forces is unshaken.
He said he had directed the Chief of Defense Staff and his Service Chiefs to take the war to the criminals who have made life difficult for many Nigerians.
The President said recent reports had shown that the country’s seven years of investments in security were now maturing, and implored the armed forces to continue with the current effort and determination until they rid the land of all manner of miscreants.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, had said members of ASCSN had been supportive in actualising programmes and policies of the administration, describing the leadership as mostly public servants that were vast in civil service procedure, making negotiations with them easy.
President of ASCSN, Dr Tommy Okon, also noted that the administration had been worker- friendly with implementation of far reaching reforms, which include regular payment of salaries and allowances, increase in minimum wage, extension of retirement age for some workers, and sustenance of the size of public service, in spite of constraints of financing.
Bello Wakili, Abuja
