His action is however against the civil service rule, which states that a career civil servant must disengage from service either after attaining 60 years of age or having worked for 35 years, whichever comes first.
Despite spending 44 years in public service, Alhaji Liman Ibrahim, Nigeria’s Controller-General (CG) of the Federal Fire Service (FFS) has refused to retire.
SaharaReporters gathered that Liman started his public career as a pioneer Cadet in the Niger State Fire Service in 1977.
His action is however against the civil service rule, which states that a career civil servant must disengage from service either after attaining 60 years of age or having worked for 35 years, whichever comes first.
It is also against a recent circular from the office of the Head of Service to all agencies of the Nigerian government which says, “For avoidance of doubt and in order to maintain discipline and integrity of the extant public service rule which prescribed 60 years of age or 35 years of service for mandatory retirement, should strictly be complied with.
“Accordingly, the following guidelines shall apply. (I) that career officers who take up tenured appointment should at the point of taking up the appointment retire from service to ensure they run their term uninterrupted.
“(II) that career officers who have not retired from service before the commencement of their tenured appointment must leave office on attainment of mandatory age/years of service for retirement and
“(iii) that career officers who are currently holding tenured appointment are required to retire from service with immediate effect and continue to run their term. Failure to do so would mean that they would vacate office on attaining the mandatory age or at the expiration of their term which ever comes first.”
However, sources have informed SaharaReporters that Liman, who by law is an illegal public servant, has been bribing members of the National Assembly committees on interior.
They accused the Fire Service chief of doing everything within his capacity to manipulate the extant laws and regulations to remain in office.
“This is someone who joined the Niger State Fire Service and went for training at the then Kano State Fire Service in 1977. By law, that was when his service in public service started. Public service rule says 35 years, both state and federal or 60 years of age.
“He later trained at the Fire Service Training School, Lagos in 1986. He left Niger State Fire Service where he headed for several years to establish the FCT Fire Service in 2001. He then crossed over to the Federal Fire Service in 2015. In all, he has put in approximately 44 years service counting from 1977,” a source told SaharaReporters.
Born to family of Alhaji Abdulrahman Ndabida in Baro, Agaie Local Government, Area Niger State, Liman was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in March 2019.