By Ismaila Jimoh, Abuja
In a move aimed at ensuring qualified staff are fit to face modern technology-driven challenges associated with their work and also to avoid any form of interference and pressures from any quarters, the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) Civil Service Commission has introduced Computer – Based Promotion Examination.
This was disclosed by the Chairman of the Commission, Emeka Eze during the computer based examination organised in Abuja on Tuesday for 915 FCT Administration’s staff, majority of them at directorate level, having been cleared for the promotion examination.
Participating staff are drawn from the Universal Basic Education Board ( UBEB) Secondary Education Board ( SEB) Education Secretariat and other Departments and Agencies.
Eze noted that the computer based examination was introduced to ensure that those who would move to substantive positions as directors are well qualified.
He also disclosed that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike who created the Commission with the approval of President Bola Tinubu, wanted to resolve the backlog of promotions that has been pending for many years.
While he revealed that the verification exercise to determine the workforce of the FCT was yet to be completed, he also disclosed that the commission encountered too many falsification of age in the service records.
According to him, workers who were caught in the web age falsification were asked to retire from the service.
He said, “ We started by doing, first and foremost, a verification exercise to establish the number of workforce in FCT. And having almost finished that, the next level is to clear the backlog of promotions over the years.
“ When His Excellency, Mr. Minister came on board, there was a backlog of outstanding promotions, to the extent that by 2023, when he came, he cleared all the backlogs of promotions dating back up to 2019, up to the level of deputy directors.
“ And as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration, we needed to introduce technology to avoid, first of all, the possibility of interference and pressures. And so, we will be the first commission to introduce CBT tests in Nigeria. Because the idea is that as we are finishing the result today, by next week the result is out. So there’s no possibility of anybody putting pressure on anybody for it. So this is a part of the renewed hope agenda of the present administration”.
Also speaking, Martins Azubuike, Representative of South-East in the Commission, stated that participants who fail to scale through in the exams will have no one to blame for remaining in their position.
Azubuike also disclosed that the Computer based tests have come to stay in the system, and it remains a measure that will encourage workers to update their digital skills.
“ If you can’t operate it, it means you can’t answer your questions. And at the end of the day, the computer will grade you. If it is zero, the computer will grade you. And those who are able to operate the computer and answer correctly, and of course, come at the top will get promoted to the tune of the number of vacancies”.
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