Sack other overaged govt officials like ex-DSS DG Yusuf Bichi – Lawyer tells Tinubu

Activist lawyer, Madubuachi Idam, on Thursday urged President Bola Tinubu to sack all over-aged government officials like he did to the immediate past Director General of the Department of State Services, DSS, Yusuf Bichi.

Idam said the decision to sack Bichi was a good turn that deserved another from Tinubu.

A few days ago, Tinubu had removed Bichi as the head of the secret police and replaced him with Adeola Ajayi.

However, Idam said the removal of the now-former DSS DG came too late because Bichi was aged 68 years when his appointment was terminated.

In a message sent to DAILY POST, titled, ‘The Removal of Yusuf Magaji Bichi, a “one good turn that deserves another” by the President’, the activist lawyer said: “The news about the removal of the Director General of the Department of State Security Service (DSS) has been greeted with jeer and sneer reactions by the public. Till date, I’m yet to see a comment by any Nigerian against the removal of the immediate past DG of SSS. Interestingly, both the ruling party and the members of the opposition appear to be united in praising Mr. President for this singular action. A confirmation that positive actions bear no enemy.

“The removal of the now-former DG of SSS, in my view, came too late in the day. By his Wikipedia profile, he was born in 1956 (i.e., 68 years by 2024), one will ask what has he been doing in service till 2024 having exceeded the 60 year statutory retirement rule.

“What a mockery of the Public Service Rules. Interestingly, apart from Mr. Bichi’s unimpressive record of human rights abuses, gross disobedience of court orders and abuse of power which his regime was notorious for, his stay in office after cloaking the age of sixty (60) years in 2018 was in utter violation of the Public Service Rules, which provides in Section 9 that a Public Servant in Nigeria shall retire from service upon the attainment of 60 years of age or 35 years in service, whichever comes first. By the aforesaid rule, the DG was already eight (8) years in excess of the permitted age of service in 2024, when he was removed.

“At 68 (1956-2024) years of age, he remained in public service and also headed the Security Service as Director General while his junior/ younger officers would have retired and exited the Service as they attain the statutory age limit of 60 years. But, he remained in Service in clear violation of the Public Service Rules 2021 made pursuant to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended) and nothing was said or done about that till now.

“Unfortunately, there are many other Bichis in the Nigerian Public Service to date, some of whom were re-appointed despite over-staying their years of service and also exceeding their permissible biological age. Example of them is the Director General of the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) Dr. Vincent Isegbe who was born in 1961 and was appointed into the Service in 1989, in 2014 he became a Director General of the Agency and held the position till December 2023, when his second term expired. Consequently, he was directed to handover to the next most senior officer and vacate the office by the supervising Minister.

“Curiously, after a few months, he got re-appointed by the President into the same position even as he is already 38 years of age in-service and has also clocked the sixty years of statutory age limit.

“More interesting is that, he was re-appointed also in violation of the law establishing the Agency he presided over as Director General. The spirit and letters of Section 10 (5) the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine, Service Establishment Act, 2018 is to the effect that a person who is retired from Public Service cannot be appointed as the DG of the Service. This, including plethora of petitions on corruption allegations and allegations of abuse of office pending in various Security Agencies against him, was also ignored and he was re-appointed for another five years.

“What can be more illegal, unlawful, autocratic, tyrannical, monarchical than this? Dr. Isegbe will remain in service having spent 38 years in service, attained 60 years of statutory age limit and 9 years of uninterrupted period as DG of the Agency( also against the eight year directorate limit provided by the Public Service Rules).All in clear and gross violation of the extant laws of Nigeria.

“I and several well-meaning Nigerians will only join the public to give kudos to President Tinubu if Bichi’s sack is applied across board.

“For President Tinubu’s action to enjoy a larger public support, it must be holistic. Otherwise, it will remain a political lip service, in my view and that of other patriotic Nigerians. Laws are meant to command obedience.”

Sack other overaged govt officials like ex-DSS DG Yusuf Bichi – Lawyer tells Tinubu