CIVIL SERVANTS AND TENURE EXTENSION

This is to draw attention to a growing practice which threatens the credibility, renewal, and fairness within the Nigerian Civil Service, and that is tenure extensions beyond statutory retirement age in the Federal Civil Service.

Let us all be warned that if the practice is not checked, it may quietly institutionalize injustice and weaken the very reforms the current administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda seeks to achieve.

It is an increasing trend where certain career civil servants are granted tenure extensions beyond their statutory retirement period thus drawing serious concerns to the drawbacks of this nefarious practice.

Though occasionally rationalized on the grounds of continuity, this practice undermines succession planning, stalls institutional rejuvenation, and denies deserving officers opportunities to serve and grow.

This pattern also contravenes the Public Service Rules (PSR) and retirement protocols, erodes morale and institutional equity, risks fostering favoritism and undermining accountability.

Accordingly, if not checked, it may quietly institutionalize injustice and weaken the very reforms the Renewed Hope Agenda seeks to achieve.

It is imperative that this administration and all relevant authorities discourage, reject, and investigate such anomalies wherever they exist.

Strict adherence to civil service regulations must be enforced, and mechanisms to detect and prevent tenure abuses strengthened.

President Bola Tinubu should immediately wade into this as Nigeria’s future lies in systems that reward fairness, discipline, and forward planning—not selective privileges.

We look forward to an anticipated action on this matter of urgent national importance.

Emmanuel Udom, Kwali, Abuja