News
OHCSF Opens Process for Appointment of Five Permanent Secretaries
Joel Ajayi
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) has commenced the appointment process for five new Permanent Secretaries, following the approval of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
In a statement signed on Monday in Abuja by the Director, Information and Public Relations Mrs. Eno Olotu reveals that the process seeks to fill five vacant positions: two arising from the recent retirement of Permanent Secretaries from Imo State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and three newly created rotational zonal vacancies due to the establishment of additional Ministries. These zonal vacancies cover the North-Central, North-East, and South-East geopolitical zones.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, OON, mni, emphasised that the process has been carefully structured to ensure transparency, credibility, and merit, in line with the Administration’s commitment to good governance. Only qualified and competent officers are being considered.
The exercise commenced with the call for applications from eligible officers on Grade Level 17 in the mainstream Federal Civil Service, who had spent at least two (2) years on the grade. Their respective Permanent Secretaries cleared them as not being under any disciplinary action before forwarding their names.
Thereafter, the OHCSF compiled the list of eligible officers, who were subjected to a verification and screening exercise conducted by a Committee of Permanent Secretaries, with monitoring by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Department of State Services (DSS). Candidates also completed asset declaration forms with the Code of Conduct Bureau, while anti-corruption clearances from the EFCC, ICPC, and DSS are ongoing.
The initial screening exercise has been successfully concluded, and the selection process is now advancing to the next phase—the written examination—which is scheduled to commence on Monday, 15th September 2025. Candidates will sit for the examination at a secure Federal Government facility. The setting and marking of the examination will be supervised by a panel comprising serving and retired Permanent Secretaries, with oversight provided by observers from a civil society organisation, the organised private sector, and other relevant stakeholders.
Candidates who are successful in the written examination will proceed to the ICT proficiency assessment, which will take place on Wednesday, 17th September 2025.
The final phase of the process—a comprehensive oral interview—is scheduled for Friday, 19th September 2025. This will be conducted by a distinguished panel consisting of the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, serving and retired Permanent Secretaries, former Heads of the Civil Service of the Federation, and representatives from the private sector and a professional body. The Anti – Corruption Agencies will also observe this stage to ensure integrity and transparency.
The final recommendations based on overall performance and merit, will be submitted to the President for his consideration and approval.
Mrs. Walson-Jack reiterated that the exercise reflects the Federal Government’s firm commitment to strengthening institutional capacity, promoting professionalism, and ensuring a transparent and merit-based public service leadership. This initiative underscores the Administration’s dedication to improving service delivery and driving national development.
News
Tin City Warms Up for President Tinubu as North Central Embraces Renewed Hope
By Sunday Dare
When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu berths on the plains and rolling hills that dominate the Jos landscape tomorrow, he will meet a people resourceful, friendly and resilient but weighed down by conflict, yet unbowed by adversity.
So, tommorrow, national attention turns to the Plateau- a locale laden with history and rich with potential. From the tin mines that gave the city of Jos its name, to the Irish potato, strawberry farms and beetroot plantations that dot its landscape, Jos remains a land of promise—truly the Home of Peace and Tourism.
Jos is also deeply woven into Nigeria’s political history. Plateau is home to towering figures such as Generals JD Gomwalk, Yakubu Gowon, John Shagaya, Joshua Dogoyaro, and Jerry Useni. Solomon Lar, Senator Ibrahim Mantu and numerous others also stand tall in the annals Plateau political history.
Jos was also the rallying ground of the famed Langtang Mafia—a group of influential military officers from Langtang in Plateau State who, at the height of their power, played a significant role in Nigeria’s political and military affairs.
The story of Jos is both exciting and excruciating. The city lost its innocence some two and a half decades ago, when the popular Terminus Market was reduced to rubble through acts of arson and looting.
Thus at the turn of the millennium by 2001, Jos—and by extension, Plateau—was thrown into a cycle of unending conflict. Ethnic tensions, clothed in religious garb, tore through the city and spread across the state, dragging Jos into an abyss of violence, almost of Kigali proportions. Peace gave way to war, and tourism jaunts became undertakings to the undertaker.
Yet Jos has never surrendered. Every time it is written off, it rises again—scarred, but resilient. With its multi-ethnic, multi-religious fabric, the Plateau continues to trudge on in pursuit of peace, development, and egalitarian ideals.
It was here, in Jos, that Nigeria’s democratic resurgence was birthed. The historic SDP convention, where late General Shehu Yar’Adua and Chief Moshood Abiola held sway, took place in this city. Jos gave political life to Abiola, our hero of democracy in 1992
Now, thirty three years later, another hero of democracy and of the June 12 struggle returns to the Plateau. President Tinubu’s return and visit to Plateau State is not just to honor the transition to glory of Nana Lydia Yilwatda, the mother of the APC National Chairman.
It is a visit that carries deeper meaning—one of empathy, solidarity, and renewed hope for a people who have endured decades of turmoil. It is a mission to preach peace, console the bereaved, bind wounds, and assure Plateau of its central place in the Nigerian project.
Mr President comes not just to mourn, but to reconnect. He comes to parley with the North Central, to commiserate with a people who have suffered, and to extend the hand of renewed hope. That Renewed Hope is laying a solid foundation as evidenced by Naira at N1,455 per dollar, rising Foreign Reserves at $43bn, Trade surplus heading for N25tr. Revenues up 411% and Inflation down to about 20 per cent. Over 600,000 students benefiting from NELFUND.
This visit is more than ceremonial. It is a journey into the very soul of a people who have known pain, yet remain resilient; a land scarred by conflict, yet still brimming with hope and promise. As the Tin City opens its arms, Jos will not just receive the President—it will receive a message of solidarity, healing, and renewal.
Tomorrow is about remembering the glorious past, confronting the present, and charting a path to a peaceful and prosperous Plateau within a united Nigeria. With President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Jos once again stands at the intersection of history and destiny.
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