Extension of Service and Sit Tight Syndrome in Imo Public Service: Charles Orie’s as Case Study

The idea of people holding tight to their positions after  reaching the retirement age or serving out a fixed  tenure, continuing to be paid salary draw salary, either on their own authority or by extension of service from a higher authority, is among the highest levels of corruption in today’s system.

This is a largely responsible for the stunted growth of any society and is a mark of lack of conscious effort for growth and development.

A situation whereby people who have worked for 30 or more years or attained the age of 60 to 70 years, as the case may be, refuse to vacate office, as and when due, either by their craftiness or through extension by the authorities, when there is a sea of suitably qualified persons seeking employment opportunities leaves much to be desired.

The Imo state civil service is inundated with cases of senior civil servants; Directors, Permanent Secretaries and others, who although they attain a retirement age, quickly secure extension letters from office of the Governor to stay put in office for periods of time.

It became so rampant recently, under the watch of the present government led by Senator Hope Uzodimma. It took the outcry of concerned citizens for the Governor to later give an order that every civil servant who attained retirement should proceed without seeking for extension of service, as it will no longer be granted – a move applauded across many quarters.

However, it still beats the imagination of Imo people that the current Head of Service of Imo State Civil Service, Barr. Raymond Ucheoma became a sacred cow as far as the Governor’s matching order was concerned. He is still  in office as the Head of Service, as at the time of this report. His case is the most notorious among others, having reportedly secured more than two extensions, since the attainment of his retirement over a year ago.

Meanwhile, another dimension to this anomaly is when those in authority who are supposed to implement the law of retirement or termination of appointment become nonchalant and lackadaisical in their approach to the demands of their office.

A recent case involving the former Managing Director (MD), Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC), Chief Charles Orie, should have been a serious embarrassment to the Governor of Imo State and could lead to his resignation, if it were to be in a sane society.

Charles Orie wrote a letter of resignation, in which he stated that he resigned his position for personal and family reasons, which included to focus on preparation for his 2027 political ambition.

Surprisingly, the media handlers of the the State Government led by  the Commissioner for information, Chief Declan Emelumba, in their usual mafia and militant approach to information management, thought they were doing a good fight for the Governor by telling the world that Orie did not resign, rather his tenure had elapsed long ago and the Governor did not extend or renew it.

As earlier said, if it were to be in a society where leaders are mindful of their actions, and the led demand accountability and  pressurize  political office holders to resign as a result of inefficient leadership or corruption issues, the governor would, by now, have been on a hot seat.

Some of the posers to him and all those concerned should have been; When was the actual date the tenure of the ISOPADEC chairman elapsed? Was he ever reminded that his tenure had elapsed? Was he ever requested to hand over authority and government property in his possession to any official of the commission? Was there any appointment to replace him? Were his salaries and other emoluments stopped?

With answers to the above questions likely negative, it is a clear indication that the government is not being properly run.

Thus one wonders, how can the tenure of an appointee expire over a long period of time, in the words of the Commissioner, yet he was allowed to remain in office and enjoy all the benefits and paraphernalia of office ?

The Government waited until he tendered his resignation before its information handlers could publicize that “his tenure had elapsed long ago, and therefore he cannot claim to have resigned”.

C-Advocate calls for more transparency and fiscal responsibility in the running of government as this will justify tax payers money expended on government. The time to end the sit tight syndrome is now.

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