By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
No fewer than 10,700 civil servants in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) have commenced the 2026 promotion examination, which will run through next week across designated centres in Abuja.
The exercise, organized by the FCT Civil Service Commission, is aimed at promoting eligible officers and clearing outstanding promotion backlogs accumulated since the Commission became operational in 2024.
Chairman of the Commission, Engr. Emeka Ezeh, who monitored the exercise, said all outstanding promotion backlogs had been cleared, paving the way for the Commission to conduct only the corresponding annual promotion exercise from 2027.
“About 10,700 of them are going to have the exam that started today. It will run throughout this week up to next week, and we believe that at the end of the exercise, those who are successful will be promoted,” Ezeh said.
The exercise was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda for the civil service and the directive of the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, that civil servants should be promoted when due, he said.
Ezeh described the clearance of the backlog as one of the commission's major priorities since its establishment.
“In 2026, the Commission has cleared all the backlogs of all the outstanding promotions, so that by 2027, we'll be conducting only the 2027 promotion exercise,” he explained.
Ezeh attributed the seamless conduct of the examination to lessons learned from previous exercises, noting that measures had been introduced to address delays, overcrowding, and technical challenges.
The Commission commenced the exercise early, deployed generators rather than relying solely on AEDC power supply, and adopted a first-come, first-served system for issuing examination cards, he added.
“With each outing, we learn from the mistakes of the previous one. Part of what we have learned is that we needed to start on time and be certain we are on generator rather than being on AEDC so that the issue of glitches will not arise,” he said.
He added that candidates who arrived early were allowed to take their examinations and leave, thereby creating a continuous flow of participants at the centres.
However, the Commission chairman cautioned candidates against assuming that attaining the minimum examination score automatically guarantees promotion.
He explained that the promotion is subject to three key conditions, such as maturity on the current post, attainment of the prescribed minimum score, and availability of vacancies.
Ezeh said officers from Level 7 to below Level 14 must have spent at least three years on their current posts, while officers on the Directorate cadre, from Assistant Director upwards, must have spent at least four years, adding that candidates must have no disciplinary cases against them.
“The Public Service Rule and our guideline for appointment for promotion say that promotion shall be based on merit only,” Ezeh emphasized.
Speaking on the process, he said where there were three vacancies and 10 qualified candidates, only the three highest-scoring candidates would be promoted.
He stressed that candidates who attained the minimum cut-off but fell outside the available vacancies should not necessarily regard themselves as having failed the examination.
“It does not mean that others did not pass; they met the minimum cut-off mark, but there are others who performed better than them. So we choose the best among those who are successful,” he said.
The Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC), FCT/FCDA, also commended the Commission for improving the organization of the examination.
Secretary of JUAC, Comrade Abdullahi Umar Saleh, said the union’s monitoring team observed improvements compared with the previous exercise, particularly in crowd management, ventilation, and lighting.
“There is a great improvement compared to the previous one. The venue was not overpopulated, and there is actually proper ventilation. I can see fans all over. There are well-lit points everywhere; it is looking bright,” Saleh said.
He acknowledged that existing public service rules make promotion subject to the availability of vacancies but said teachers had continued to seek special consideration because of the essential nature of their profession.
“Teachers claim that they are professionals and they need to be given preferential treatment, that FCTA or Civil Service Commission should look into their case and see how they can waive vacancy arrangement for them because they are giving essential services of imparting knowledge to the populace,” he said.
Saleh said discussions were ongoing among the FCT Administration, the minister, and the unions, adding that the minister had directed the parties to maintain the status quo pending further deliberations.
He expressed optimism that the discussions would eventually produce a favourable outcome for participants.
“We believe that subsequently there will be greater improvement, even more than this. JUAC expects that, all things being equal, by the end of this examination period, every applicant who wrote the exam will go home smiling,” he said.
On security around the examination centres, the FCTA Department of Security Services, Director, Mr. Adamu Gwary confirmed that adequate security arrangements had been deployed to ensure a smooth and disruption-free exercise.
Some participants who spoke to NewsGrid, including Temitope Kayode and Adama Zakari of the Abuja Infrastructure Investment Centre, also commended the Commission for conducting a smooth and orderly examination exercise.
0 Comments