“Extension of Service” Scandal Rocks Imo Civil Service, Perm Secs Due For Retirement Refuse To Quit Office -

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By Okey Alozie

A bad omen which is about causing disaffection among the workforce is gradually brewing in the Imo State Civil Service as Trumpeta investigation reveals that the latest practice is the attitude of Permanent Secretaries who refuse to leave and quit from offices after retirement to obtain waiver for continuity .

A visit by our reporter to the state ministries discovered that some Permanent Secretaries due for retirement either by age or length of service are still incharge of ministries and unwilling to leave office. It was further discovered that not less than four different Permanent Secretaries (names withheld) are yet to quit government ministries, agencies and parastatals after hitting retirement age by length of service and date of birth.

The new tactics, the “sit-tight” Permanent Secretaries have employed is to stay longer in the Ministries is through obtaining suspected fraudlent extension of service letters. Trumpeta findings however revealed that Permanent Secretaries who approach retirement age seek political solutions to stay longer in the service. Most of those who stay longer exploit their links to powers that be in the state government to obtain extension of service that lasts for over a year before the finally bow out.

Trumpeta learnt that this approach is causing ripples in the civil service as workers frown at the act, alleging that it is a calculated plot to frustrate growth in the state civil service.