Cost of governance: Appoint your support staff from Public Service,Sanwo-Olu orders commissioners, SAs

IBRAHIM QUADRI

Lagos State government has ordered State commissioners and special advisers to source their support staff from civil servants rather engaging the service of officers outside the public service of the State.

The government noted that there are qualified and competent officers that would be assigned to them as support staff whenever they desired to have such while serving the state.

The Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration  noted that anyone that may have had initial agreements with his support staff before assuming office could do so but such individuals would not be allowed any privilege nor permitted to view official documents assigned to the political appointee.

According to investigation, any support staff, who are not public servants, appointed by commissioners and SAs would not be paid by the government, rather the political appointee would source for the funds privately and he or she may not be allowed into the ministries, in order to prevent information from getting to the public through the unauthorised channels.

This was stated in a circular with Ref. No: CIR/HOS/23/Vol.1/070 on Tuesday and issued by the Head of Service, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, directing Accounting Officers in Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) to give it deserved Service-wide publicity.

The circular read, “It is hereby notified for general information that appointments of Personal Assistants from outside the State Public Service by the Honourable Commissioners and Special Advisers, (Cabinet & Non Cabinet Rank) in the discharge of their day-to-day functions is not in line with the structure in the State Public Service as they will not be allowed any privileges nor permitted to view official documents.

“However, whilst noting that Personal Assistants play crucial role in supporting Political Appointees towards effective service delivery, this all important support staff can be internally sourced from Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) in the State by ensuring that qualified and competent Officers are assigned to them, so as not to increase the Wage Bill of the Government.

“Consequently, Political Appointees requesting the need of Personal Assistants are hereby enjoined to liaise with the Accounting Officer of affected MDAs and subsequently forward the Officer’s name to the Public Service Office for deployment”.