Despite the inherited public revenue challenges, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has demonstrated uncommon commitment to public service expansion, civil service job retention, prompt payment of salaries and pensions within the framework of Renewed Hope Reform Agenda.
Comrade Issa Aremu, DIRECTOR GENERAL/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Micheal Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies ( MINILS) Ilorin made the observation at the 2026 SENIOR STAFF PROMOTION EXERCISE of the Institute on Thursday in Ilorin.
He said unlike previous reforms by past Administrations which resulted in mass job losses and retrenchment, the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commendably maintained exiting jobs , employed more and pay salaries as at when due notwithstanding public revenue challenges.
According to him,there were approximately 720,000 civil servants in 2023 when President Tinubu was inaugurated. However he noted with satisfaction that by the first quarter of 2026, as many as 1. 5 millions are employed in public service. He attributed the expansion of public service jobs to the establishment of hundreds of development agencies by the progressive government of President Bola Tinubu. He cited the six Regional Development Commissions (NELFUND) NIGERIAN EDUCATION LOAN FUND and CreditCorp
National Credit Guarantee Company (NCGC) among other new public service institutions created by the administration with thousands of employed staff.
“Today with the establishment of agencies like regional commissions, NELfund etc, security institutions like thousands of forest guards and police men to total public sector employment is commendably in millions in an economy begging for jobs to keep the youths engaged” Aremu noted.
He observed that the 2026 Promotion Exercise in MIMILS further points to the commitment of the Federal government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR to Decent Work.
The Director-General disclosed that this year’s promotion which uplifted additional 45 senior staff Candidates was the fifth consecutive cycle of senior staff promotionexercises successfully conducted since his appointment as Director General in 2021.
As the premier Labour education institution in Nigeria, Aremu said it was imperative that MINILS served as a model in rewarding productivity and ensuring discipline in the world of work before promoting knowledge for other agencies to follow.
“Despite competing institutional pressures, My office has prioritized and fully funded the statutory promotion activity, ensuring that MINILS staff career progression never stagnates under my watch. My administration continues to bear the administrative and financial weight of promotion exercises to guarantee that merit is rewarded. The sustained stability and career advancement staffenjoy today are the direct results of unwavering intentional leadership and deliberate resource management” he said.
The Director General also used the occasion to reaffirm of the status of MINILS as a development training institution guided by public service rules and the extant laws with respect to staff recruitment, promotion and retirement warning against distortions of the institution as an “academic as distinct from a training MDA under the Federal Ministry of Labour”.
He canvassed for additional funding and staffing of the Institute to impact on millions of the country’s formal and informal sector workers in critical area of labour education.
On institutional reforms, Aremu said MINILS would partner with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) to implement the new Performance Management System (PMS) in the new performance management framework.
Earlier, the Director of Human Resource Management, Dr Danjuma Lawn, described the promotion exercise as a commitment designed to reward deserving employees. He thanked the Director-General for approving the exercise and assured staff that Management remained committed to conducting the process in good faith.
He urged the candidates to put forth their best performance, reminding them that promotions would be based on available vacancies. He further assured participants that the exercise would be conducted under strict standards of discipline, transparency and fairness.
2026 promotion exercise witnessed the presence of the Representative of the Honourable Minister, Dr. Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Representative of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, OON, mni. giving credence to the promotion process as required by the Public Service Rules and extant circulars.