Zamfara govt rejects new federal permanent secretary appointed by Tinubu

The Zamfara State Government has rejected the appointment of one of the newly named eight federal permanent secretaries.

The presidency announced the appointment of Maryam Ismaila Keshinro and seven others as permanent secretaries in a press statement on Friday.

The new appointees have yet to be officially deployed to federal ministries.

Announcing the appointment, presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale stated that the appointees were to fill existing and impending vacant slots for some states and geopolitical zones in the top administrative cadre of the Civil Service of the Federation.

Mrs Keshinro, a vastly exprienced consultant paedetrician, was appointed to represent Zamfara State.

The rest of the appointees with the states or regions they represent are Emanso Umobong Okop (Akwa-Ibom) Obi Emeka Vitalis (Anambra), Mahmood Fatima Sugra Tabi’a (Bauchi), Danjuma Mohammed Sanusi (Jigawa), Olusanya Olubunmi (Ondo), Akujobi Chinyere Ijeoma (South-East), and Isokpunwu Christopher Osaruwanmwen (South-South).

The presidency said the appointees were picked after a diligent selection process by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

Rejection

However, the Zamfara State Government said Ms Keshinro is not an indigene of the state and, therefore, not qualified to be appointed to represent the state.

Its protest goes back to May when the Zamfara State’s Head of Service, Ahmad Liman, wrote to the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, claiming that Mrs Keshinro is not an indigene of Zamfara State.

The Zamfara State governor’s spokesperson, Suleiman Idris, repeatedly told our reporter over the telephone on Saturday and Sunday that he has yet to receive a briefing about the government’s stance regarding the matter.

In the letter dated 24 May seen by ASIWAJU MEDIA on Saturday, the Zamfara State Head of Service Mr Liman said Mrs Keshinro, not being from the Zamfara State, could not legitimately represent the people of the state and, hence, must be dropped.

The letter cited eligibility criteria in the Public Service Rules and a 2023 tenure policy circular.

“Consequent upon the commencement of the appointment process of the Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Civil Service, issues arose that stirred the collective attention of the good people of Zamfara State as the par representative capacity of candidates deployed in the process, most especially the potential candidate pencilled for the appointment on the post of a permanent secretary purported from Zamfara State,” the letter read in part.

It added that moves to appoint her selection “failed to meet the requirements provided under the eligibility criteria enshrined in the Public Service Rules (as revised)”.

It also said the selection offended “the requisite for the said post offends the content of a recent Federal Government Circular No. MH.7205/T/31 dated 7 September 2023, on tenure policy regarding clinical Officers/Personnel since the potential candidate that wrongly claimed representation of the good people of Zamfara State is clinical personnel.

“It’s worthy of note to clarify from the onset that the candidate infracted the key provision of Eligibility Criteria of the PSR, especially Rules 020811 (e) (f), which linked the requirements to indigeneship.

“For all purposes and intendment, the candidate is never an indigene of Zamfara State and would not legally claim or enjoy representation for the sake of the good people of Zamfara State. Furthermore, no purported documentation in that respect will legally qualify her to be a bona fide indigene of Zamfara State,” the letter stated.

The letter added that the state was unfairly treated at the federal level, and the appointment of Mrs Ismaila would continue the long cry of marginalisation of the state regarding representation at the federal level.

“Secondly, the circular cited above haplessly deprived the candidate of taking undue advantage of representation of the good people of Zamfara State, most especially the Federal Civil Servants of Zamfara extraction, since the candidate is a clinical officer/personnel exempted from tenure policy, thus, could not legally vie for the post of a permanent secretary in the Federal Civil Service by the extant circular.

“It’s against this background that I am, therefore, directed to appeal to the collective conscience of the offices of the Head of the Federation and indeed all critical stakeholders to drop the candidacy of MARYAM IBRAHIM ALIYU or by whatever name called (Keshinro Maryam Ismaila) for the post of a Permanent Secretary in the Federal Civil Service in representation for the good people of Zamfara State to allow indigene of Zamfara extraction in the Federal Civil Service to legally and positively compete for the post.

“Lest we may recover from being the least represented state in the Federal Civil Service and at the same time seek the satisfaction of the Constitutional requirements enshrined in section 14 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the state Head of Service’s letter also stated.

Appointee’s profile

According to her LinkedIn page, the new appointee is an experienced paediatrician with over two decades of working and leadership in medical practice at different levels.

She is keenly interested in Preventive Pediatrics and skilled in Childhood infectious diseases, Nutrition and Development.

She holds a master’s in science (Public Health) focused on Health System Policy and Management from KIT Royal Tropical Institute/VU, Amsterdam.

Before her latest appointment, she was a consultant Pediatrician/Director at State House Clinic, Consultant Paediatrician at Kaduna State Health Management Board, and Consultant Paediatrician at the Hajiya Gambo Sawaba General Hospital Zaria from June 2009 to December 2020.

She was also the central facilitator for the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) at Tofa Local Government Area, Kano State.

Appointee’s true state of origin

Although the Zamfara State Government claimed that Mss Ismaila is not from the state, PREMIUM TIMES understands that she hails from the Tsafe Local Government Area of the state.

Her paternal and maternal grandparents were from Tsafe town.

ASIWAJU MEDIA has learned that Keshinro is the surname she adopted from her husband, who is Yoruba.

Mrs Keshinro’s late parents were Christians from the Hausa minority Christians in Tsafe LGA. Her late father was an ECWA church pastor and a famous clergyman.