By Lawal Shehu Dalhat

The attention of the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC)has been drawn to a story in SaharaReporters regarding the forthcoming promotion examinations at the council.

In the report, the online publication accused our Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Mrs. Nonye Ayeni of ?carrying out appointments in violation of procedures.?

The article is a clear example of egregious and blatant misinformation and a poor understanding of how promotion examinations are conducted in the civil service.

While we will refrain from joining issues with the publication, it important to provide clarification regarding the exercise scheduled to take place from July 9 to 11, 2025 because there is nothing to hide.

But before explaining the process of promotion examinations, it is pertinent to refer again to the date of the planned examinations ? July 9 ? 11, 2025. What this means is that Mrs. Ayeni has been accused and convicted of an offence which, according to the publication of July 2 2025, she is planning to commit seven days after she has been found guilty. Can there be a more shocking and unkind miscarriage of justice.

To put things in context, last year, 74 members of staff of the Council sat for promotion examinations from 3-4 April, 2024 which ran all day up until past midnight. 49 passed and were promoted. It was adjudged free, fair and without irregularities and bias. The success of that exercise which was not disputed by one single member of staff or management was a clear demonstration of Mrs. Ayeni?s attention to detail, strict adherence to extant civil service rules and her long experience as a past Head of Human Resources at Zenith Bank Plc, a fact many people at the council were not even aware of.

Now, let us explain to SaharaReporters how examinations are conducted in the Civil Service in order to show that one person, ED/CEO or not, cannot unilaterally promote staff.

Before a promotion examination is held, the Council will write to the Head of Service (HoS) to request approval of its manpower budget where the available vacancies for promotion are considered and approved by the Head of Service of the Federation. The request must be accompanied with justification showing that members of staff have met the statutory requirement to seat for the promotion exercise which include serving on a grade level for the requisite three (3/4) years before they can sit for promotion, among other things.

If the HoS sees merit in the application, the approval will be granted and once that approval is granted the ED/CEO will then convene a Senior Staff Committee meeting that considers the approval, come up with the date, disciplinary and administrative issues modalities and format for the interview and examination. At this point, the date and list of approved candidates will be communicated via a circular.

Now, the senior staff committee is made up of the ED/CEO, senior officers of the council (Directors) as well as representatives of the HoS, the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment (our supervising ministry) and the Federal Civil Service Commission.

With this composition is it impossible for the ED/CEO to ?handpick? or unilaterally decide who gets to sit for the promotion examinations because the meetings are held in strict adherence to civil service rules.

The Senior Staff Committee meeting for the forthcoming promotion examinations was held on 24/06/2025 and the circular with reference number ADM/CONF/SM/I/VOL.12/121 was subsequently communicated to the entire staff on 26/06/2025 in accordance with the civil service rules along with a list of 102 eligible candidates.

As at the time of writing, not a single complaint has been received so it is perplexing to read in SaharaReporters reports of discontent within the council.

SaharaReporters cited the civil service rules regarding promotions for staff without degrees or with HND certificates: ?A holder of a Higher National Diploma (HND) and a professional certificate (ICAN, ANAN, or COREN), without a Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) and a Master's Degree or a Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field from a recognized university, cannot be promoted to the Directorate level in the Public Service as stipulated in the extant scheme of service."

For further clarity, a subsequent circular dated 7th November 2022, with reference No. HCSF/SPSO/ODD/E&WP/64976/52, emphasized: "For the avoidance of doubt, all HND holders terminate on SGL 14 in the Public Service, whether with or without professional qualifications."

The forthcoming examinations have not in any way flouted this directive nor do they intend to. When the promotion examinations were held in 2024, many members of staff who had been on the same level for over eight years were overjoyed to finally have an opportunity to sit for promotions. When such a long period of stagnation is discovered, the ED/CEO can, with the advice of the Senior Staff Committee, write to the HoS to request that such a member of staff be allowed to sit for the promotion examinations on humanitarian grounds.

For the forthcoming examinations members of staff who have been on the same grade level for over three years have been prioritized and while the online publication has mentioned the names of Mr. Abayomi Akodu (Deputy Director - Accounts), Mr. Joshua Mani (Assistant Director - Accounts), they failed to substantiate their claims of nepotism aside from the snide allusion to blackmail.

Messrs Akodu and Mani have not sat for the exams. They have not passed or failed neither have they been promoted. So where is the offence? What happens if they sit the examinations and do not pass? Will the charges of favoritism and nepotism hold?

In the case of Mr. Salami, he retired less than one year after Mrs. Ayeni was appointed and could not in any shape or form be construed as a friend, relative or associate. He was no more than a diligent member of staff stationed at the Kano regional office and let it be pointed out that the ED/CEO does not require and has never requested for a convoy while on official visits to regional offices.

For further clarifications regarding the conduct of the promotion examinations; the ED/CEO has no input in how the exams are set, collated and marked. The process is simple: Directors at the council set the questions on the day of the examination. The exams hold and the answers are collated and marked by the same Directors on the same day which is why the process can last past midnight. The results are then handed over to the Director of Human Resources, the Director Policy and Strategy and the ED/CEO.

Now there is a curious twist to exams and promotions in the civil service. A member of staff can pass the exam and yet not be promoted. This can happen where there is no vacancy above his grade level. Is this unjust and inhumane or a strict adherence to the rules? You be the judge.

To conclude, the promotion examinations for staff of the council have been set for July 9-11 2025 in strict adherence and compliance with civil service rules. As far as the council is aware no member of staff has been promoted and to the charge of nepotism, it might be germane to remind SaharaReporters of the full meaning of the word ? ?the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives, friends, or associates, especially by giving them jobs.?

The ED/CEO has no relative, friend or associate at the council and no one is being offered a job or a promotion as a favour.

*Lawal Shehu Dalhat, the Director (Policy and Strategy) Nigerian Export Promotion Council Headquart

ers wrote in from Abuja

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