The Federal Capital Territory Administration, has begun the promotion examination for more than 13,000 civil servants, with authorities saying the exercise is part of efforts to clear outstanding promotion backlogs and ensure eligible workers are promoted without delay.
The Computer-Based Test, CBT, promotion exercise, approved by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, will run for 10 days and covers officers across more than 150 cadres and grade levels in the FCTA and the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA.
Chairman of the FCT Civil Service Commission, Engr. Emeka Ezeh, who monitored the first day of the exercise in Abuja on Wednesday, said the commission had put measures in place to prevent a repeat of the technical glitches and power outages that affected previous examinations.
He disclosed that the minister had also directed the commission to conduct the 2026 promotion exercise before the end of the year so that no eligible officer would be left behind.
According to Ezeh, the commission is determined to sustain a transparent and credible promotion process while improving the conduct of future examinations.
“I believe that in time to come, when the Commission would have gotten its own facility, it would be much, much easier and seamless,”
He said significant improvements had already been recorded following the decision to provide dedicated power supply for the exercise instead of relying on the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC.
“There is a remarkable improvement from what happened the first time we started. The Honourable Minister directed that all the issues of glitches and power outages we observed in the first instance should not happen this time around.
“As you can see, the exercise is going on smoothly because we are not relying on AEDC. We are running on generators, and since you arrived, there has not been any power outage. This has addressed one of the major issues we witnessed in the past.”
Ezeh said the few challenges recorded on the opening day were largely caused by candidates who failed to present the required original documents despite repeated notifications.
“In spite of all the information we pushed out, some still came without their original letters of regularisation and other required documents. Others came with photocopies or gave different personal reasons. Beyond that, there is no problem.”
He added that commissioners representing the six geopolitical zones were directly supervising the exercise to ensure transparency and fairness.
Also speaking, Commissioner representing the North-East in the FCT Civil Service Commission, Mohamed Magaji Ibrahim, said the exercise was designed to eliminate outstanding promotion arrears.
“If you can recall, last year we conducted a similar exercise for 2024. We are trying to clear the 2024, 2025 and, by the grace of God, the 2026 promotion exercises this year.”
Earlier, the commission said the exercise formed part of the implementation of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and was approved by the FCT Minister, who directed that all shortcomings observed during the maiden CBT promotion examination be addressed before this year’s exercise.
The Acting Director of the Centre for Human Resource Development at the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, Dr. Amos Iliya, whose institution is coordinating the examination, said the exercise commenced on schedule.
“We started very early today at 9 a.m. The first batch has concluded and we are now taking the second batch. Everything is going well.”
He said officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, were deployed to manage traffic around the venue, while candidates were admitted in batches to ensure orderliness.
President of the Joint Union Action Committee, JUAC, of the FCTA and FCDA, Rifkatu Iortyer, who was represented by Comrade Henry Oshowo, described the exercise as encouraging, although he called for improvements in the availability of functional computers and technical support personnel.
“We are here on the invitation of the commission to monitor the promotion exercise. On day one, we can say it has been good, but we expect some level of improvement going forward.”
The JUAC President said the adoption of CBT had improved transparency in the promotion process and aligned the FCT Civil Service with global best practices.
“It is a thing of joy for us as a union that promotions have remained regular. Workers are no longer stagnating, and the introduction of CBT is a step in the right direction because the world is evolving.”
One of the candidates, Mustafa Omar of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB, also described the process as seamless.
“I came for the promotion examination, and it was quite hassle-free. I did not encounter any technical challenge. It went well.”
