DR. JOE ABAH, DG, BPSR is the Only Serving Government Official Invited to the APC Policy Dialogue.

The Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, BPSR, Dr Joe Abah has achieved another first. He is the ONLY serving government official invited to participate in the APC Policy Dialogue holding between Wednesday, 20th and Thursday, 21st May, 2015 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Maitama, Abuja.

The event, the convening a 2-day policy dialogue with the theme: Implementing Change – From Vision to Reality has the objective to align the agenda, priority and vision of the in-coming administration with the expectations and aspirations of Nigerians across various sectors. It will be attended by Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of United Kingdom as well as President-elect Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) and Vice President-elect Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

This policy dialogue will bring together experts, bureaucrats, professionals and practitioners to take a deeper and critical look at the broad vision espoused in the manifesto of the APC as well as the General Buhari’s headline vision, My Covenant with Nigerians.

THURSDAY 21ST MAY - BPSR LUNCHTIME SEMINAR: ‘Opportunities for Public Servants to Own Their Own Homes’.

Dr. Joe Abah, DG. Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR)

Dr. Joe Abah, DG. Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) will host the next lunchtime seminar coming up on 21 May at 1pm at Merit House.

The topic for discussion will be ‘Opportunities for Public Servants to Own Their Own Homes.’ 

Guest Speaker will be Dr Hannatu Fika - Executive Secretary of the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board.

For more information, contact BPSR on 09 291 8966 or send an email to enquiries@bpsr.gov.ng.

Click to read REFORMER MONTHLY BPSR's e-newsletter.

Dr Joe Abah, Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) Wins Award...

Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Dr Joe Abah

The director-general of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Dr Joe Abah, has bagged an award for being at the helm of one of the most outstanding Public Institutions in Nigeria.

The award, instituted by the Independent Service Delivery Monitoring Group (ISDMG), recognised the bureau which has been saddled with reforming Nigeria’s public sector, as one of the public institutions in the country which has performed extraordinarily in the year under review.

Speaking to FirstAfricaNews exclusively at the International Conference Centre, venue of the awards, recently, Abah could not hide his gratitude.

He said, “I feel grateful for the recognition accorded my staff for the efforts which they have put in in one year. Of all the bodies recognised today, the bureau is the only one manned by core public servants. They are, probably, the least paid of all the organisations here, but their effort speaks volumes for them and that has been justified today by showing that it can be done with the right focus, the right determination, well-directed energy and good leadership. In a few words, this award belongs to them”.

Dr Abah said he was glad that the award would give his staff more believe in themselves, in the system and in Nigeria, as a nation where the “right thing works when done the right way”.

Abah assured that before the end of his tenure in 2016, the nation will come to recognize the bureau and appreciate it more for much of the work will get done and the changes which it will effect in the nation’s public sector.

First Africa News

Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) Photos.

Director General of Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Dr. Joe Abah with the Anyim Pius Anyim, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Ben Mellor, Head of DFID Nigeria, staff from the Office of the SGF, DFID and FEPAR.

 Dr. Joe Abah, Director General of Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) engaged in a chat with Ben Mellor, Head of DFID Nigeria and staff from the Office of the SGF, DFID and FEPAR.

Anyim Pius Anyim, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) exchanging pleasantries.

Anyim Pius Anyim, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) with Ben Mellor, Head of DFID Nigeria, Director General of Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Dr. Joe Abah and staff from the Office of the SGF, DFID and FEPAR.

BPSR LAUNCHES BOOK IN HONOUR OF OUTGOING HEAD OF SERVICE OF THE FEDERATION

The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has made a public presentation of the book: “The Challenges of Transforming the Civil Service: The Reforms of Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji” in honour of the former Head of Service, Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji. The presentation of the book which chronicles his achievements took place recently at a public ceremony to honour him for uplifting the Civil service during his 15- month tenure as the helmsman of the Civil Service.

While presenting the book, the Director- General of the Bureau, Dr. Joe Abah, said that the book was published by the Bureau to provide a public record of reform efforts under Alhaji Aji and to explain why some actions were taken, the difficulties, the challenges and the consequences of such actions. He added that the book puts the monumental achievements of Alhaji Aji in the public space and sets up for posterity what has been done and what needs to be done without attempting to tie the hands of successors.

While reviewing the book, “The Challenges of Transforming the Civil Service”, Dr. Olaopa, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communication Technology described it as a capsule highlighting Alhaji Aji’s reform efforts in institutionalizing professionalism in the Civil Service that would lead to a world class institution of government that would be able to deploy global and local best practices toward an effective service delivery. He also praised his efforts in realizing that staff welfare was of paramount importance to the worker without which the organization would not succeed.

Dr. Olaopa pointed out that it was to his credit that BPSR was removed from the office of the Head of Service with a Director-General as head of the lead reform agency to coordinate the reform mandates in the MDAs.

He further praised him for restructuring the Office of the Head of Service, for the divestment of pension administration hitherto performed by the Head of Service and for the collaboration with the Federal Civil Service Commission which if sustained would ginger transformation rooted in shared vision.

In eulogizing the man whom he described as a natural leader, an achiever, a detribalized, patriotic Nigerian, Dr. Olaopa said:”Alhaji Aji has inscribed his achievements in the annals of administrative history in Nigeria by taking critical steps when they matter most to redirect and re-establish the ailing Nigerian Civil Service system.”

Responding in his characteristic humble manner, Alhaji Aji said he did not really do anything new but only accelerated and added value to the things that other people had designed.

He expressed profound gratitude to the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for giving him the opportunity to serve the nation. He also thanked the Vice President, Arc. Namadi Sambo and other members of the Federal Executive Council for the support he needed to perform his duties.

As he concluded his speech, there was a standing ovation closely followed by fireworks as the book: “The challenges of transforming the civil service” was presented by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed in conjunction with another book: “The Quintessential Civil Servant” sponsored by the body of Permanent Secretaries.

Dignitaries present included the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim Pius who represented the President, Directors of Federal and State Ministries, Members of the Armed Forces, Diplomats among others.

Source- BPSR Website

DOWNLOAD REPORT OF THE BPSR SEMINAR SERIES FROM PRESS RELEASE 

FOR YOUR DIARY - BUREAU OF PUBLIC SERVICE REFORMS (BPSR) ACTIVITIES.

1. Friday 5 September - Meeting of the White Paper Implementation Committee on the Oronsaye Report to take decisions on appeals and petitions against the White Paper.

2. Monday 8 September - DG BPSR to serve as Peer Reviewer for the World Bank/ DFID Country Assistance Strategy for Nigeria.

3. Thursday 11 September - Meeting of Head of Service of the Federation with all Director-level officers in the public service.

4. Thursday 11 September - Inaugural BPSR Lunchtime Seminar. Series to be flagged off by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Host will be the Head of the Service of the Federation. Speaker will be DG Pension Commission, and topic is 'Pension Reform Act 2014 and its Implications for Public Servants.' 

5. Friday 12 September - Meeting of the Steering Committee on Reforms to consider the NSPSR and the Compendium of Reforms.

6. Monday 29 September - Launch of BPSR Guide on 'How to Manage and Reform Agencies and Parastatals' by the SGF. All chief executives of agencies and parastatals and their reform directors (about 1,000 people) are expected at the event.

7. October 1 (Independence Day) - Launch of BPSR compendium of reforms titled: 'Public Services Reform in Nigeria 1999-2014: A Comprehensive Review.'

8. October 14 to 22 - BPSR visiting the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) of the Government of Malaysia to share experiences and attending the CAPAM conference.

Rationalisation of FG Parastatals: FG Inaugurates Implementation Committee on White Paper...

Vice President Namadi  Sambo

The Federal Government Tuesday inaugurated  a 12-man Implementation Committee of the White Paper on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies  .

President Goodluck Jonathan had inaugurated a Presidential Committee on the Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies on 18 August 2011, chaired by Mr. Stephen Oronsaye.

Vice President, Namadi Sambo inaugurated the committee on Implementation at the Presidential Villa Tuesday.

Sambo disclosed that the Chairman of the 12-man implementation committee is Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, Vice Chairman is Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke.   
              
Members include Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Ministers of Aviation, Education, Finance, Health, Industry, Trade and Investment, Science and Technology, Tourism, Culture & National. Orientation.

Members of the committee also include Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Director General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, who is the  Secretary. (Source - This Day)

FG Set To Release Nigeria’s New GDP Figure….

The Federal Government will on Sunday release the country’s new Gross Domestic Product figure, 15 years after the current one was released.

The country is supposed to be releasing the figure every five years.

The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, disclosed the plan to State House correspondents on Wednesday at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo.

Maku quoted the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as informing the council that the country was ready to rebase its GDP after over one year of hard work by the ministries of Finance and National Planning, the Chief Statistician of the Federation and international agencies like the International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank and the International Development Bank.

Maku explained that with a new and reliable GDP figure that would be released, the government would be able to carry out proper planning for development purposes.

He added that investors would understand better the indices of growth of the various sectors that make up the economy with the new figure.

The minister said, “We received today briefing by the Minister of Finance that after nearly 15 years, Nigeria is now ready to rebase its GDP after more than one year of hard work by the ministries of Finance and National Planning, the Chief Statistician of the Federation and international agencies like the IMF, AfDB and IDB.

“You will recall that the last time that Nigeria issued new statistics and the GDP figure was 15 years ago. And this is not supposed to be so as we are supposed to be doing this every five years. So, we hope that by Sunday, this new GDP figure will be released and the importance of this is that for the first time in 15 years, we will know scientifically what the new GDP figures are, the contributions of every sector to the economy, and we will be able to know the sectors that record the most progress and which ones are lagging behind.

“The importance of rebasing the GDP is to ensure that after every five years, every nation wants to know how much progress the GDP has made. What are the sectors’ contributions? What are the challenges they are facing? Which sectors are moving forward; which ones are lagging behind?

“Inappropriate understanding of the GDP and the details of how the sectors are performing will affect policies. When the figures are hopefully released on Sunday, we will then be able to analyse sector by sector, and that will improve our budgetary planning and national planning, and indicate which sectors need added attention.” (Source - Punch)

FG Suspends Salary Of 1,000 Civil Servants And Spends N35bn On Workers’ March Salary

 Mr Jonah Otunla

The Federal Government has suspended the March salaries of over 1,000 civil servants who refused to comply with the directive for the upgrade of their account to the ten digits Nigerian Uniform Bank Account Number

The Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Jonah Otunla stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at a workshop on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System.

The CBN had released the guidelines on NUBAN scheme in August 2010 to achieve a uniform numbering structure among all Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria within nine months.

NUBAN, according to the CBN, has the potential to resolve problems with electronic payments in Nigeria as many of them are related to specification of wrong beneficiary account numbers.

The initial deadline was June 1, 2011. This was extended by the CBN to June 1, 2012; and at the expiration of the date, it was further extended to July 1, 2013.

The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation had last year stated that since NUBAN became fully operational on July 1, 2013, all members of staff of MDAs were supposed to have complied with it.

Otunla urged staff to make sure that they had the NUBAN, which was the major challenge the office was facing in paying workers.

He, however said that that about N35bn had been paid as salaries for the month of March to 283,000 of 308 Ministries, Departments and Agencies captured under the IPPIS platform.

The IPPIS is a new innovation of the Federal Government that is meant to enhance planning and budgeting by making personnel cost to be based on actual verified figures and not estimates.

The AGF, who was represented by the Co-ordinator IPPIS, AGF office, Mrs Fatima Mede said, “In March, 283,000 staff were paid about N35bn.

“These 283,000 staff cuts across 308 Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government we currently have on the system.

“We are hopeful that by June, we should have all federal MDAs in the country on the IPPIS netrwork.”

Otunla said also that his office had commenced work on getting all Federal Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of education and also Para-Military agencies on the IPPIS platform.

He said that the IPPIS would enable the government keep adequate tab of its recurrent expenditure. (Source - Punch)