From: Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

President Muhammadu  Buhari, on Wednesday, swore in the remaining seven Permanent Secretaries that were among the 22 directors that passed the promotional examination and appointed, in August.

The brief ceremony took place before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council (fec) meeting, presided over by him.

Fifteen of the Permanent Secretaries were, on August 15, sworn in by Yemi Osinbajo when he acted as president while President Buhari was on medical vacation in the United Kingdom.

The swearing in of the top civil servants was to fill the vacancies created in the agencies of government.

Those sworn in are Mustapha Suliaman (Kano), Adekunle Olusegun Adeyemi (Oyo),  Mrs. Ekaro Chukwumogwu (Rivers), Adedayo Akpata (Ekiti), Abdulkadri Muazu (Kaduna), Osuji Ndubusi (Imo) and  Bitrus Nabasu (Plateau).

The newly sworn in Permanent secretaries would resume duty when their colleagues from their states, currently in service, retire.

 

 

They were among the final 58 names that were forwarded to Osinbajo for appointment at the time.

Their appointment followed a week-long  rigorous examination of  300 Federal Directors at Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The change in policy for the Federal Permanent Secretaries  to write examinations was part of the resolutions of the National Council on Establishment (NEC) held July 2016 in Minna, Niger State.

Over 200 of the 300 Directors earlier shortlisted for interviews and verification for the 21 vacant positions of Federal Permanent Secretaries failed to scale the hurdle for the final stages of the exercise.

About 100 scaled the verification of credentials, stage where 78 that scaled through sat for the  “Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Assessment Test” held at the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) Utako, Abuja.

The 78 successful Directors had proceeded to written examination stage that was held at the National Defence College (NDC) auditorium, in Abuja. The examination was on “Relevant Public Service and Policy Issues”.

The successful ones then proceeded to the third and final level; the “Oral Interview/Interactive Session” at the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of Federation, in Abuja, from where only 58 of them made it.