Education

Merit will remain a yardstick for recruitment and promotion – Dr Yemi-Esan

By Web News 426

By Rotimi Famakin

The Head of Service of the Federation, HOS, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, says merit as a yardstick for the recruitment and promotion of federal civil servants would continue to remain the hallmark of her administration.

Dr Yemi-Esan stated this while delivering a lecture entitled: “Promoting the Culture of Meritocracy: A Panacea for National Development”, at the Trenchard Hall of the University of Ibadan.

The HOS explained that the era of employing and promoting federal civil servants based on the influence of individuals has gone, saying written examination and oral interviews were currently being adopted to ensure qualified personnel with merit occupy the right positions for effective service delivery and national development.

Dr Yemi-Esan who said a high level of credibility is being maintained to ensure the best brains are recruited, also said it is now mandatory for Permanent Secretaries to undergo written examination, ICT proficiency test and oral interview before appointment by the president.

The HOS who said a policy identified as LEAD-P, is now being adopted to expose officers to operations in the private sector, also hinted that induction training is now mandatory for newly recruited federal personnel.

In a remark, the Vice Chancellor University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode Adebowale who explained that the lecturer’s wealth of experience was brought to bear on the lecture, encouraged participants to have a reflection on the lecture and make corrections where necessary to make Nigeria a better nation.

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News

FG Approves Commencement of Paternity Leave

By Web News 602

The Federal Government has approved the commencement of 14-working-day paternity leave for federal civil servants.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan said this on Monday in a circular with ref no: HCSF/SPSO/ODD/NCE/RR/650309/3, dated 25th November 2022.

The circular titled, ‘Computation of Leave Based on Working Days and Approval of Paternity Leave in the Public Service’, said that this was in line with the provisions of the Public Service Rules, 2021 Edition.

“Government has also approved Paternity Leave for serving male officers whose spouse delivers a baby. The period of the leave shall be fourteen working days. The leave shall not be more than once in two years, and for a maximum of four children.

“Where the family of a male officer adopts a child under four months old, the officer will similarly enjoy Paternity Leave for a period of fourteen working days,” Yemi-Esan said.

She said that the request for such leave shall be accompanied by the Expected Date of Delivery’s report of the officer’s wife or evidence of approval of the adoption of the child by the relevant government bodies. She also said that the effective date of the circular was 25th November 2022.

It would be recalled that the Federal Executive Council in September this year approved a 14-day paternity leave for men in the federal civil service, to make men properly bond with their newborn baby or adopted one.

She said the bonding was important to help the newly-born or adopted baby properly bond with the father in the early period.

“We’ve also gotten approval to include paternity leave. This is something that is new. And this is something that the unions in the service asked that we include, and luckily, we’ve been able to include it.

“We’ve also been able to ensure that leave now is calculated based on working days, not on calendar days, that also has been approved. We also have introduced the transition from paper service to digital service. So these are some of the new things that are in the new PSR that has just been approved by the federal executive council,” she said.

Punch/ Oluwayemisi Owonikoko

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