The National Industrial Court has validated the Federal Government’s tenure policy that imposes fixed service terms for senior civil service positions like Directors and Permanent Secretaries.
The Court dismissed arguments that the policy’s reimplementation was illegal and discriminatory.
Delivering the judgment, the President of the Court, Justice Benedict Kanyip, ruled that the tenure policy stipulating an 8-year tenure for Directors/equivalent roles and a 4-year renewable term for Permanent Secretaries based on performance is valid and constitutional. This policy is contained in the Public Service Rules 2021.
Justice Kanyip firmly rejected the claims of former Permanent Secretary Alo Nwankwu that enforcing the tenure regulations amounted to illegal discrimination against certain top civil service officers.
The Court categorically held that the policy applies uniformly across the federal public service.
Background
Mr. Alo Nwankwu, A former Permanent Secretary, challenged the legality and fairness of reintroducing the tenure policy for senior civil servants.
Nwankwu stated that in July 2016, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria issued a directive suspending the tenure policy through a circular from the Head of Civil Service.
This policy had previously mandated compulsory retirement for senior civil servants like Directors and Permanent Secretaries after fixed tenure periods.
Nwankwu argued that the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and the Attorney General of the Federation lack the requisite authority to unilaterally reintroduce the suspended tenure policy into the Federal Civil Service.
His position was that since the Head of Civil Service cannot overrule a Presidential directive, the circular reintroducing the tenure policy in July 2023 was illegal and unimplementable.
Nwankwu further contended that the decision to selectively reintroduce the tenure policy’s constraints for his position as Permanent Secretary, while disregarding it for some other Permanent Secretaries and Directors, amounted to discriminatory treatment.
Through his counsel, Nwankwu maintained that the Public Service Rules 2021 provision reducing a Permanent Secretary’s maximum service length from their previous eligibility until retirement age was unlawful.
He argued this curtailed tenure violated lawful expectations for civil servants continuing beyond four years before mandatory retirement.
Nwankwu’s case claimed the reintroduction of tenure policy capping service lengths was unauthorized, discriminatory in application, and negatively impacted lawful service term expectations for permanent secretaries like himself based on the 2016 suspension directive’s status quo.
Court’s Decision
Justice Kanyip rejected this line of argument as bizarre and wishful thinking.He pointed out that a comparison of the 2008 and 2021 Rules shows the tenure policy transitioned from a mere proviso to a full-fledged rule under the revised 2021 version.
Crucially, the court affirmed that the President is the Chairman of the Federal Executive Council that approved the 2021 Public Service Rules containing the reinstated tenure.
Justice Kanyip upheld the validity of the tenure policy limiting service tenures for Directors/equivalents to 8 years and Permanent Secretaries to 4 years renewable once, subject to performance.
The Court declared that the policy’s implementation as per the 2021 Public Service Rules is non-discriminatory and applies uniformly across the federal public service.
Consequently, Alo Nwankwu’s suit challenging the policy’s reimplementation as illegal and discriminatory was dismissed.
