A civil society organization, the Committee for the Protection of Peoples Mandate (CPPM), has condemned in the strongest terms, what it described as acts of insubordination and affront to constituted authority by Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. (Mrs) Folasade Esan.
CPPM alleged that Mrs Esan undermined a presidential directive to commence the process of appointing a substantive Accountant General of the Federation, and described it as irresponsible, provocative, reckless, condemnable, unacceptable.
In a statement on Sunday by Nelson Ekujumi, the Executive Chairman of CPPM, he reckoned that the action of Head of Service of the Federation portends a threat to national security.
According to the civil society organization, “We are aware that sequel to the Presidential directive with regards to the appointment of a substantive Accountant General of the Federation, following the indefinite suspension of the former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, for fraud of which he is in court to answer charges as preferred by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the HOS in a memo dated June 21, 2022 announced the commencement of the process for the appointment of a substantive AGF.
“Consequently, applications were called for from qualified accountants from the mainstream civil service in the pool of Accountant General of the Federation with set criteria for eligibility and subject to security checks. But surprisingly before the conclusion of the process in line with Presidential directive and the HOS memo, Mrs. Dr. Folasade Esan stalled the process for reasons which amounts to a violation of her oath of office and an affront to constituted authority.
“Shockingly, with a motive, which has a interest far and above national interest written all over it, the HOS in a memo to the President dated 13th October 2022, while acknowledging Mr. President directive conveyed via the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation letter dated 16th June, 2022, stated that … ‘At the close of submission of applications and security clearance by appropriate agencies, very negligible number of directors met the criteria. The number will not provide a large pool to engender competitive process at the end of which a substantive Accountant General of the Federation could be appointed.’
“She then went ahead to propose to Mr. President, the extension of the process to the first quarter of 2023 just to satisfy her personal interest and motive,” he stated.
According to the statement, this expressed position of the Head of Service of the Federation is rather strange, a perversion of civil service rules, an affront to the authority of Mr. President and an attempt at being clever-by-half.
The group wondered what provisions of the civil service rules Mrs. Folasade Esan relied on to single -handedly determine the number of applicants who had met the set criteria and security clearance for appointment to arrive at her “negligible” number.
“Thus, we at CPPM wish to draw the attention of Mr. President who is a strong advocate for due process and rule of law to the actions of Dr. Mrs. Folasade in trying to pervert civil service rules and undermine constituted authority and national security.
“The Committee for the Protection of Peoples Mandate (CPPM) then demanded the immediate Presidential rejection of Dr. Mrs. Folasade Esan request for abortion of the process for the appointment of a substantive Accountant General of the Federation and extension to allow for her personal interest over national interest. It also called for disciplinary proceedings against the Head of the Service of the Federation for perversion of civil service rules, abuse of public trust and an affront to constituted authority which is unacceptable and condemnable, ” the statement concluded.
