A leading civil society group, Stand Up Nigeria, has raised serious concerns over reported moves by the newly appointed Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Shamseldeen Babatunde Ogunjimi, to create and fill two unconstitutional positions within his office — Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff.
The group announced it is finalizing a formal petition to the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, describing the move as a violation of civil service rules that could encourage waste, promote patronage, and further erode public trust in federal institutions.
“We are currently in the process of forwarding a petition to the Head of Service to stop what we see as a creeping personalization of a critical federal institution,” said Joseph O. Alade, Executive Director of Stand Up Nigeria. “These positions do not exist in the approved civil service structure and amount to a breach of civil service rules.”
Alade noted that while the creation of such positions may appear “minor” or “harmless,” they represent the very type of casual impunity that underpins the dysfunction of Nigeria’s governance system.
“This is how it starts — a Chief of Staff here, a Deputy there, and suddenly a public office becomes a private fiefdom. These small anomalies are not just technicalities; they are symptomatic of a much deeper crisis. This is part of Nigeria’s problem — we normalize illegality at the foundational level,” Alade stated.
Stand Up Nigeria is calling on the Head of Service to halt the creation and staffing of these unconstitutional offices, investigate the circumstances behind the move, and reaffirm the importance of rule-based public service management.
The group says it will not hesitate to escalate the issue through broader civic coalitions if the anomaly is not immediately addressed.
