By Jonathan Ugbal
The Chairman of the Cross River Local Government Service Commission, Dr Peter Adigeb has said that a bill for the appointment of Permanent Secretaries for Local Governments is now before the State House of Assembly.
A permanent secretary is the most senior civil servant in the Nigerian civil service with only the Federal and State governments currently appointing them.
The position, is an appointive one. And, the permanent secretary is responsible for the day-to-day running of ministries, departments, agencies and other parastatals of government while the political appointees act as chief executives.
And, the Punch reports that Mr. Adigeb disclosed this on Thursday in Calabar during the solemn assembly to mark the 40th anniversary of the National Union of Local Government Employees.
“One of our achievements in office is the resolve to have permanent secretaries at the councils and the bill is currently before the assembly and we are sure it will be passed very soon.
“The state governor has assured me that as soon as the bill gets to his table, he would sign it into law.
“I assure you that Cross River will be the first state in Nigeria to have this law.
“So, as a graduate, once you are recruited into the local government system, you will rise to the level of permanent secretary,” he said.
Currently, the highest position a civil servant in the local government service can rise to is a director. However, the Head of Local Government Administration superintends over them and can act as a local government chairman as is the case currently.
And, Adigeb who received an award of excellence during the ceremony, urged local government staff to work harder, noting that many innovations were being introduced to strengthen the third tier of the government.
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