The Lagos State government has directed all commissioners and other political appointees to refrain from engaging personal assistants who are not part of the civil service.
According to a circular issued by the Head of Service, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, the new directive mandates that all political appointees are restricted from hiring personal assistants from sources beyond the civil service.
According to the HoS, “It is hereby notified for general information that appointments of Personal Assistants from outside the state public service by the Honourable Commissioners and Special Advisers (Cabinet & Non Cabinet Rank) in the discharge of their day to day functions is not in line with the structure in the state public service as they will not be allowed any privileges nor permitted to view official documents.”
Muri-Okunola added that while personal assistants played crucial role in supporting political appointees towards effective service delivery, this all important support staff could be internally sourced from Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), in the state by ensuring that qualified and competent officers were assigned to them, so as not to increase the wage bill of the government.
“Consequently, political appointees requesting the need of personal assistants are hereby enjoined to liaise with the accounting officer of affected MDAs and subsequently forward the officer’s name to the Public Service Office for deployment.
“Accordingly, accounting officers are enjoined to note the contents of this circular and give it the deserved service wide publicity,” he said.