Former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, has strongly criticized the alleged issuance of employment letters from the Office of the Chief of Staff, stating it lacks the authority to act as a civil service recruiter. He insisted that appointment letters should come through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), not the Chief of Staff.
Chief of Staff has no legal power to employ
Speaking during an interview with Channels Television, Chidoka described the situation as a worrying sign of how the role of the Chief of Staff is being misunderstood in Nigeria. "Does the chief of staff to the president have the right or power to appoint or employ anybody in civil service? No way," he said. "This chief of staff business is getting out of hand in Nigeria. He is a staff of the president. He is the chief organiser of the president's office. He has no business with the government machinery."
Proper channel is the SGF
Chidoka explained that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) is the official who oversees the machinery of government and handles appointment processes across the federal civil service. "The Secretary to the Government of the Federation is the person that has the bureaucracy. He has seven permanent secretaries. He interacts with the government agencies," Chidoka said. He further noted that when the federal government creates committees or councils, they are usually administered through the SGF's office, with the necessary civil service structures already in place.
Controversy over PFIPC appointment
Chidoka's comments come amid the ongoing controversy over the appointment of the Director-General of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee (PFIPC). Reacting to claims that the controversial appointment letter originated from the Office of the Chief of Staff, Chidoka said that alone raises serious questions, regardless of whether the document eventually turns out to be genuine or forged. "There is no way that the chief of staff office can write a letter," he said. Under Nigeria's constitution, the Office of the SGF, which oversees multiple permanent secretaries and coordinates state machinery, remains the proper channel for managing public appointments.
If accepted, something is fundamentally wrong
Chidoka emphasized that if government agencies accepted such a letter from the Chief of Staff's office, "something is fundamentally wrong with Nigeria." He said the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) should investigate the PFIPC DG appointment controversy and determine what happened. "So meaning that if the letter of appointment in question that has been going on says from the chief of staff's office and the head of service office accepted it and all the other agencies accepted it, then something is fundamentally wrong with Nigeria," Chidoka said. "So either original or fake, the letter shouldn't have ever emanated from the chief of staff office. Absolutely."
Chief of Staff is a personal assistant, not a recruiter
Chidoka explained that while the Chief of Staff works closely with the President and even attends meetings of the Federal Executive Council in an ex-officio capacity, the office is not responsible for issuing employment or appointment letters. He described the Chief of Staff as fundamentally a personal assistant to the President, tasked with organizing his office rather than running government departments.
