Jonathan swears-in new HOS, commissioner

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday swore in the new Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Danladi Kefasi and new commissioner representing Imo and Abia in the Federal Civil Service Commission, Dr. Chima Odunze.
Kefasi, who was the immediate past permanent secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, was last week named as replacement for Goni Aji, who retired as Head of Service after 35 years in service.
Before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council meeting, President Jonathan tasked the two officers to bring to bear their wealth of experience to instill discipline in the service and ensure enforcement of standard practice.
He said: “Incidentally, the two people that took oath of office have to do with management of the civil service of the federation, which is critical. For any government to do well, the civil service is the centre of activities.
“And for us to succeed as a nation, there must be absolute discipline and orderly conduct in the civil service. That is why your jobs are quite challenging. But from your experience, both of you are quite conversant with the operations of the civil service. I believe that you will bring your experience to bear as you manage the civil service.
“People must handle government affairs as government affairs and not personal. My observation with people from the little period that I worked in government, there are people who base things on their own thinking and not on standard practice. There must be standard practice.”
He went on: “One key thing to reckon is standard practice rather than doing what they think is right or wrong. The idea is making sure things are properly done and minimize errors.
“But over the period, people decide to do things in this country with impunity and misconduct. We charge you, as you are coming in, to handle this responsibility and make sure they improve.
“From reforms from Obasanjo till today, we still notice certain aberrations and we believe that as the new head of civil service of the federation, you will make sure things are done properly.”