Controversy rages over appointment of Shaaka Chira as Auditor-General of the Federation

The appointment of Mr. Shaaka Chira by President Bola Tinubu as the substantive Auditor-General of the Federation (AGoF) has continued to draw controversy with a group, Worried Nigerian Citizens(WNC), joining the fray.

ENigeria News reports that Shaaka Chira’s confirmation was put on hold last week by the Senate following petitions that argued that as the most junior director of the office, he lacked the basic experience to head such a sensitive position.

In this latest petition titled “President Bola Tinubu should revisit the appointment of Mr. Shaaka Chira as the Auditor General of the Federation in the interest of Nigeria Civil Service,” was signed by WNC Convener, Moses Idika.

The petition which was made available to ENigeria News yesterday had the  Senate President Godswill Akpabio in copy, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas and the Head of the Civil Service Commission.

The WNC wondered in the petition why Chira who ranked 17th amongst the 17 directors of the AGoF office should be made to superintended a sensitive post that has 16 persons who are his superiors.

The WNC therefore called on President Tinubu to immediately reverse the appointment because it is not in consonance with the civil service rule.

The group also argued that Chira’s appointment was capable of dampening ‘’the morale of civil servants who work hard work and at the same time make the lazy ones feel that they can attain the zenith of their career once they have ‘long legs’ within the government.

The petition reads:” The Senate last week put on hold the confirmation of Mr. Shaaka Chira as the substantive Auditor-General of the Federation.

We are aware that Several Directors within the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation were behind the petition that the Senate relied upon to put on hold the confirmation of Mr. Shiras the Auditor-General of Nigeria.

We are concerned over the brewing disquiet that has greeted the appointment of Mr. Shaaka Chira as the Auditor-General of the Federation, unlike several other appointments made by President Bola Tinubu in the last few months.

The disquiet stems from the fact that Mr. Chira the 18th on the line of seniority in the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation was appointed to leap and head the 17 other Directors who are his seniors.

It is instructive for the Federal Government to take into cognizance the debilitating effect this appointment may have on the civil service and the moral of officers of the service.

The Nigeria Civil Service like others in other parts of the world thrives on hard work and elevation rooted in promotions and unbroken chain of command.

The latest appointment of President Bola Tinubu strikes at the core of the Civil Service in that it has potential to dampen the moral of civil servants who may now feel that hard work no longer matters if one has “long legs” within the government.

We, therefore, call on Mr. President to reverse the appointment in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President which we strongly believe is rooted in re-directing the minds of Nigerians to have hope in our institutions, our government, and in our laws.

The National Assembly as the peoples parliament must stand on the side of the people of Nigeria by ensuring that the President is guided to do the right things in the interest of our national cohesion.

Every Nigerian and every Nigerian civil servant must be made to rely on the ethics of their profession as a precursor for promotions and elevations.

The Civil Service Rule must also be abided with as a sustainable growth path for all civil servants, ethnicity, Godfatherism and favoritism have no place in civil service and therefore, must never, become part of our civil service.

The Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation is a sensitive position that the President must ensure that the morale of its staff is at pitch-high for efficiency.

Source: ENigeria Newspaper