Head of Civil Service Disowns Alleged Presidential Agency at Reps Probe

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, has distanced her office from the operations of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), telling the House of Representatives that the agency neither sought approval from her office nor received office accommodation through the civil service structure.

Walson-Jack made the disclosure while appearing before a House panel investigating the activities of the council, whose Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, has come under scrutiny over allegations surrounding the agency’s legal status.

Responding to questions on whether the Office of the Head of the Civil Service approved the council’s conditions of service, Walson-Jack said no such request was ever received.

“The responsibility for approval of conditions of service of agencies. There is no record of such a request from the Council. Meanwhile, remuneration and emoluments of personnel is not under the purview of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, but under the purview of the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, while the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission is responsible for the remuneration of political appointees and chief executive officers.”

She also clarified that matters relating to the reporting lines, supervision and oversight of agencies do not fall under her office.

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“On the request for clarification on the reporting lines, supervision and oversight mechanisms for the Council within the civil service structure, our response is that the reporting lines, supervision and oversight mechanisms for the Council and other such agencies are not within the purview of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. These are, however, dealt with by the agencies themselves and their supervising ministries.”

Addressing claims that the council operated from the Federal Secretariat, the Head of Service said her office did not allocate any office space to the PFIPC.

“However, while there is speculation that the Council occupied office space in the Federal Secretariat phase 3, we can state categorically that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation did not allocate any office space to the PFIPC.”

She explained that the office address reportedly used by the council forms part of office spaces allocated to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).

“The office space indicated as the Council’s fiscal address in the Federal Secretariat phase 3 is part of the office spaces allocated to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, a letter dated 16 November 2023 to re-allocate as the infix for the use of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Presidential Aides.”

The House panel is investigating the activities and legal status of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council amid questions over its establishment, operations and use of government facilities.