President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday said, past administrations abused the federal civil service and undermined service delivery to the people.
He stated this at the swearing in of eight permanent secretaries from eight states where vacancies existed.
According to him, past administrations “abused, undermined and destroyed the system of checks and balances within the civil service that was meant to protect and preserve the interest of our citizens.”
The president added that it was this systemic abuse of power that “significantly enriched a few privileged individuals while at the same time making the majority of our fellow citizens poorer and underserved.
“As a result, many Nigerians lost confidence in the government and its ability to deliver the required guidance and service to our people.”
President Buhari reiterated that his administration had since he came into office in May 2015, delivered on its three cardinal programmes: security, inclusive and diversified economic development and war against corruption and abuse of power.
He expressed satisfaction that in less than four years, “we have made progress on all fronts working very collaboratively with the civil service.”
Buhari charged the new appointees to key “into the administration’s programmes aimed at reforming Nigeria and restoring the confidence of Nigerians in government and the civil service.
“To enable you to achieve this, we approved the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2017 to 2020. This plan will ensure that the civil service is adequately manned and equipped to operate efficiently as it implements government policies for inclusive growth and development.
“When fully implemented, we would have successfully transformed the civil service into an efficient, productive, incorruptible and citizen-centreded machinery of government.
The permanent secretaries were sworn in shortly before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
