From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF), Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan, has allegedly ordered the immediate stoppage of salaries of 243 Federal Government workers including Directors for dragging her to Industrial Court over issues that relate to the appointment of new Permanent Secretaries to replace the retired ones.
She also directed that the Integrated Personel Payroll and Information Systems (IPPIS) Portal which has been shut for over a year remain shut until April 2022, thus raising fears that the affected workers would work for months without salaries.
The workers had approached the court asking it to compel the Head of Service to reopen the IPPIS Portal so they can update their details in order to participate in the selection process for the position of Permanent Secretary.
One of the affected Directors told journalists that the decision of the Head of Service to deny them salaries and other punitive measures was an apparent show of power, and means to punish the affected Directors and Staff over their legal action against her.
The affected Director said that trouble started some times ago when some of the Directors were disqualified from taking the Permanent Secretary examination slated for February 21 on grounds that they were “ghost workers” which, they said, was not correct.
The workers, however, argued that they are not “ghost workers” as claimed and presented their payslips which clearly had their IPPIS numbers, maintaining that they have been on the payroll of the Federal Government in the last 30 years.
“The aggrieved Directors were forced to approach the Industrial Court and, thereafter, secured court order compelling the Head of Service to allow them to participate in the permanent secretary selection process,” he said.
Counsel to the aggrieved directors Bemdoo Hassan maintained that his clients were unjustly excluded from the selection processes by the Head of Service of the Federation and should be allowed to participate in the selection process.
He also argued that stopping his clients from writing the Permanent Secretary examination, and stopping their salaries amounts to punishing them twice for the same “offence”
He also stated that some candidates who did not have their primary school certificates and other credentials were asked to bring them and were accordingly cleared, but wondered why the IPPIS platform could not be opened for the updates so as to clear affected candidates.
He, however, made reference to the order of the Abuja Magistrates’ Court, that the IPPIS portal is opened for aggrieved candidates to update their records if there was any record to update.
“We wonder why simple court order to open IPPIS platform could not be obeyed. It remains to be seen what the embattled Head of service will do next, especially now that she has multiple court orders directing her to open the IPPIS portal as well as ensure the inclusion of aggrieved directors in the Permanent Secretary selection processes.”