There was commotion at the Aso Rock on Thursday as the Operationalisation Workshop on the Executive Order for the Directorate Level officers from Grade Level (GL) 15 to 17 in the core Civil Service at turned chaotic.
The one day workshop which held at State House Conference Center, Abuja was later termed as a security breach after over 3,000 senior civil servants turned up for the event while the management said it had planned for only 800 which included those from Assistant Director to Director cadre.
At the workshop which was on the directive of Acting President,Yemi Osinbajo to intimate workers on the operational modalities of the Executive Orders, he recently signed,
security officials and personnel manning the entrance were overwhelmed and had to call for police reinforcement to calm the chaos.
Penultimate week, acting President Acting President Osinbajo signed three Executive Orders, “Promotion of Transparency and Efficiency in the Business Environment”, “Submission of Annual Budgetary Estimates by all Statutory and Non-Statutory Agencies including Incorporated Companies owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria” and “Support for Local Content in Public Procurements by MDAs of the FGN” respectively.
As early as 8:00am, vehicular traffic had already built up within the villa, especially at the entry points and security checks at different points caused further gridlocks.
The security personnel had a hard time maintaining the pace of screening and this led to commotion. Those who made it through could not find seats, all were occupied. Most had to stand as the programme commenced.
Majority of those that scaled the hurdles at the security points could not find seats at the venue for the seminar, most of them resorted to standing while the programme held.
Frustrated Participants unable to hide their feelings, openly condemned the shoddy arrangement openly and treatment meted to them. Eventually, the managers of the event had to ask Assistant Directors asked to leave the venue and return their offices while the workshop held with only the Deputy Directors and Directors in attendance.
An official at the event who spoke off record said the circular for the event was only sent out late Wednesday evening and those in charge were advised to use the International Conference Center because of the number of those on the directorate level in the civil service. This was obviously ignored.
“Maybe they felt the State House Conference Center was more prestigious for the directorate cadre to hold the workshop but this chaotic situation would have been avoided totally. A similar workshop was held for the junior cadre and nothing of this magnitude was witnessed and it was well organized.”
Recall that a similar workshop which focused on the “Promotion of Transparency and Efficiency in the Business Environment”, and “Support for Local Content in Public Procurements by MDAs of the FGN”was held at the same venue, on Tuesday with heads of the Ministries Department and Agencies in attendance.
Elizabeth Archibong
