CNA vacates office Feb 2023 by civil service rules – CSOs

A coalition of civil society groups has said the tenure of the Clerk of the National Assembly ( CNA) is expected to elapse in February 2023, going by extant civil service rule.

The coalition, which consists of Centre for Public Accountability and Transparency(CPAT), Peoples Alliance for Indigenous Rights, (PAIR), Society for Civic and Gender Equity, (SoCEGE), and Partnership for Good Governance, (PGG) stated this at a press briefing, in Abuja.

The Coalition, while dismissing claims in certain quarters that Ojo is expected to vacate office today, November 14, said it would not be a breach of civil service rules for the CNA to continue to discharge his functions during his 3-month pre-retirement notice.

Spokesperson of the Coalition, Kanjal Awam, noted that “The National Assembly Service Commission as we know will always carry out its functions in a credible manner by following due process stated by the Head of service of the Federation giving clearance on pre-retirement leave of a retiring civil servant.

“The CNA as we all know has already given a notice of 3 months to embark on retirement leave on February 14, 2023 in accordance with the rules of the civil service of the Federation.

“We strongly believe that the story flying of “plans to influence members of the commission to appoint” a certain individual is planted by those afraid of going through the process.

“The job of the Clerk to the National Assembly includes: a chief adviser to both the president of the senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives and also, to communicate to all state Houses of Assembly, matters relating to the concurrence of the parliament in the tiers of government in Nigeria.”

Awam noted that the National Assembly Service should be seen to be fair, transparent in interpreting the rules of the commission in discharging its responsibilities.

“We wish to categorically state that the CNA should be allowed to finish his tenure as stated in the service rules and interpreted by the Head of service whose role in interpreting the National Assembly service age in 2020 cannot be forgotten in a jiffy.

“February 14th, 2023 is by the corner; hence, we call on all hands to be on deck in contributing their quota to see that the Clerk to the National discharges its duty in the interest of the country.”

Meanwhile, a letter from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation addressed to the Chief of Staff Office of the Speaker, House of Representatives, explained that the essence of the three-month pre-retirement notice is enable a retiring public officer attend a pre-retirement and gather his or her records from all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies ( MDAs), he or she have served.

The letter with reference no: HCSF/314/93 dated November 11, 2022 and titled “Re: Enquiry of Pre-Retirement Leave of a Retiring Civil Servant” and signed by Adebayo Olujimi, states in part: “The pre-retirement leave is provided for in the Public Service Rule (PSR) 100238…Going by the provision, it is compulsory for the retiring officer to give a notice of three months prior to his/her retirement. Among other intents this provision is to enable the MDAs arrange a replacement in good time for the officer.

” As provided in the rule and where organized, the retiring officer will attend the one-month pre-retirement seminar. He/she is expected in his/her own interest. to gather his/her records from various MDAs, he/she might have served. This is to facilitate the processing of his/her retirement benefits.”

Source: The Sun

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