After few years of inactivity, especially as it pertains to issues of national concerns, the Council of Retired Federal Permanent Secretaries (CORFEPS) has reiterated its commitment to ensure the civil service truly serve as the effective engine of government.

One of the steps, is the formation of new executive officers, headed by the former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and Minister of Defence, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, coupled with the transfer of its Headquarters from Lagos to Abuja with effect from January 1, 2023.

The new Executive is made up of Ahmed (Chairman); Engr Ebele Okeke (1st Vice Chairman); Mr. Akin Arikawe (2nd Vice Chairman); Dr. Ibrahim Jalo Daudu (Secretary General); Amb Bulus Zom Lolo (Assistant Secretary General); Dr. Ochi Achinivu (Treasurer); and Mrs. Kehinde Ajoni (Legal Adviser).

Others are – Mr. Sabiu Zakari (Financial Secretary); Dr. Adaoha Okwuosa (Social Secretary); Dr. Goke Adegoroye (Publicity Secretary); Mrs Elizabeth Emuren (Auditor); Mr. Bassey Akpanyung (Chairman Research Committee), as well as Dr. Lami Hamza and Mr. Japh Nwosu as Members.

The Board of Trustees, whose rank has also suffered depletion over the years, from the death of older colleagues like Amb Hamzat Ahmadu, Mrs Emanuel and recently Amb B. Akporode Clark, was repopulated for the approval of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with the election of Ahmed, Abdul’Talib S. Umar, Mr. Moses Akpobasah, Engr. Ebele O. Okeke, Mr. Fortunatus O. Williams and Dr. Edet A. Ekerendu to the Board. Major Gen (rtd) Olu Bajowa, Deaconess Joan Toyosi Ayo and Amb. Femi George served as the election Panel.

Ahmed was Head of the Civil Service of the Federation from 2000 until 2007 when he was appointed Minister of Defence, after which he served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation for the later part of the Yar’Adua cum Jonathan Administrations in 2009-2011. Appointed Permanent Secretary in 1994, Ahmed is the bridge between the older, glorious generation of permanent secretaries who served between 1960 and 1995 and those who have been in the leadership of federal civil service from 1995 to date.

The new 1st Vice Chairman – Okeke, who took over from Ahmed in 2007, is the first female Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. The Publicity Secretary, Dr. Adegoroye, served as the pioneer Director General and Permanent Secretary of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms from 2004-2007. He is an academic turned civil servant whose publications and presentations have continued to beam light on the path to take in repositioning the civil service.

During its Annual General Meeting (AGM), held at the Metropolitan Club Lagos, earlier this month, the new Chairman – Ahmed pledged to hit the ground running, with firm commitment to carry the torch passed to him by the founding fathers, with patriotism and utmost integrity.

Established in 2004 with the motto: “Continuing Patriotic Service,” CORFEPS has, among its objectives, two key mandates – periodic assessment of the overall performance of the nation, and giving constructive advice on key public policy issues; and assisting to restore and maintain the proper role of the civil service as a non-partisan organ to serve the government and the nation.

Its foundation Chairman, Chief Philip Asiodu was succeeded by the first female administrative officer and first female federal permanent secretary, Mrs Francesca Yetunde Emanuel in 2014.

Emanuel passed on in April 2020 during the COVID-19 period, making it difficult since then for CORFEPS to exert its impact on issues of national concerns in line with its objectives. With the development, Asiodu continues in the Council as the Chair of the Board of Trustees, while the President is the Grand Patron.

The Guardian learnt that the composition of the new executive followed the CORFEPS tradition of electing retired federal Permanent Secretaries and Heads of the Civil Service of the Federation, whose distinguished and unblemished careers would both serve as inspiration to those still in the service and enable them to speak truth to power in offering advice to any sitting administration.

During the inauguration, Asiodu reiterated the core mandate of CORFEPS as enshrined in its Constitution and enjoined the new Chairman, Ahmed, not to give room for any delay in producing the CORFEPS 2023 Plan of Action, in readiness to advise the in-coming administration on what to do to reposition the civil service to enable it to truly serve as the effective engine of government.

The new Chairman pledged to hit the ground running and with firm commitment to carry the torch, now being passed to him by the founding fathers, with patriotism and utmost integrity.

The CORFEPS members, unanimously agree that the quality of the new executive leaves no one in doubt that the in-coming administration in 2023 has an asset waiting, as the body – the undisputed Institutional Memory of the Federal Civil Service, appears ready, in its periodic assessment of the overall performance of the nation through research and analysis of topical issues, to offer non-partisan but sound and patriotic advice in timely strategic communications with government and the public.