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Senior federal workers in Abuja are screaming and kicking against a planned competence test, which they say is a ploy to sack staff before paying the new salary to civil servants.

After a meeting, last Thursday, at the auditorium of the federal ministry of justice, the civil servants, most of whom are on upper grade level 14 to 16, resolved to ignore any further test and also challenge in court the demand by the office of the Head of Service (HOS) of the federation to conduct examinations for them.

The civil servants accused Stephen Orosanye, the head of service, of insincerity, adding that Mr Oronsaye is orchestrating the idea of a test as a ploy to sack workers.

“The federal government does not want to pay the new salary to all civil servants. They are now looking for a way to lay off workers, hiding under the guise of examination or tests,” said an assistant director in the federal ministry of education who, for fear of victimization, prefers to be anonymous.

Competency Assessment Test

In a public statement titled ‘Notice of re-sit of the post training competency assessment test for federal civil servants on GL 14 – 16,’ Mr. Orosanye stated that senior civil servants who “did not make the 40% cut-off mark” for an earlier test held in May should come for a re-sit examination on August 9.

But the civil servants said they will not only disregard the directive, they would also go to court to challenge it. They claim that Mr. Orosanye has a hidden agenda in insisting on them writing the examination.

“If that exam should hold on the 9th, the desired result will still not be gotten because the structures are rotten,” said Olaitan, the president of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSON), at the meeting.

Several civil servants who spoke at the meeting also agreed that the workers should not go for the examination.

“The tests should not hold at all. It is the responsibility of the Federal Civil Service Commission to conduct tests, not that of the head of service,” said a senior official of the ministry of transport.

Tope Ajakaiye, a deputy director and head of press and public relations unit at the office of the HOS, however, insists that the HOS has no hidden agenda for conducting the tests.

“The civil service has degenerated for a very long time. One of the ways to correct it is training. The name of the examination is post-training competence test. He (Mr. Orosanye) wants to know his competent officers,” Mr. Ajakaiye explained.

Though he declined to confirm if the results of the test would be a basis for promotion of the workers, the deputy director said the head of service was determined to conduct a re-sit examination because of the “complaints he received” over the conduct of the previous test.

Other reasons for rejecting test

It was learnt that apart from lack of clarity on the purpose of the test, one other reason the workers are rejecting the scheduled test is the shabby way the workers were treated during the last training exercise and tests held in Abuja from May 4-15.

“We all came to Abuja from our different postings. Nothing was provided for us, no transportation, no accommodation, nothing. Some of us even had to sleep at the venue of training. Up till now, even the local transport allowance that the head of service promised will be paid has not been paid,” said Mr. Adeyemo.

Mr. Ajakaiye, however, absolves Mr. Orosanye of any blame.

“Every ministry has travelling vote, so they are supposed to take care of that (the workers travel and accommodation) from their traveling vote. No ministry has informed the head of service that it will not pay,” Mr. Ajakaiye said.

He further explained that the HOS, in a letter to the various ministries, made it clear that it would only take care of local transport allowance for the workers.

However, the workers dispute this. “Our ministries say they have no directive to make such payment. Why should we believe the Head of Service when even the local tour allowance they claim they will pay, they have not paid. Do they think we have any stolen money like politicians to use for these journeys?” queried Mr. Adeyemo.

Unproven death

Several civil servants who spoke on anonymity claimed that some of their colleagues lost their lives while going to or returning from the test venue.

“Some of our colleagues died. The vice principal of the Federal Government College, Okigwe, died in an accident on her return journey from the training and test venue. Yet they want us to continue to travel, even when the test is illegal.”

Mr. Ajakaiye, however, denied knowledge of the death of any worker saying “when a civil servant dies, there is a process to be followed. From that period, we did not receive any information to that effect.”

Legality of such Test

The workers insist that by the civil service rules, only the federal civil service commission is permitted to conduct promotion examinations for senior civil servants. The commission was supposed to organise promotion exams for the staff on the 26th, 27th and 28th of July, but postponed it indefinitely.

The workers believe the postponement was engineered by the activities of Mr. Oronsanye, a claim the latter denies.

Though Mr. Ajakaiye denies that the test will be used as a basis for promotion, an undated and unsigned directive to all MDAs from the office of the HOS states otherwise.

“Officers should also note that a pass in the post-training test constitutes one of the necessary requirements for eligibility to be presented for the promotion exam when due,” the directive stated.

Presidency Intervenes

Mr. Olaitan, the workers union boss, told his members that President Goodluck Jonathan set up a committee to review the problems in the civil service and that the “committee advised the president to suspend the promotion exercise by the head of service.”

The workers, wearing angry looks on their faces during their meeting, set up a seven-man committee to work with its union executives to communicate their demand to the head of service.

These demands, which include cancellation of all examinations or test by the HOS, and proper reform of the promotion structure within the civil service, are to be submitted to the HOS tomorrow Monday.

However, Mr. Orosanye, through his spokesman, insists that the post-training competence test is just part of the reform in the civil service.

“If we want power, the civil service must be reformed because that is where the policies are formulated and implemented.”