Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, the current Head of the Civil Service of the Federation can be described as the bureaucrat’s bureaucrat. The reasons, no doubt, are simple. She brings a rich and vast experience from both the private sector and the civil service to her current position as the Head of Service of the federation.
Her first stint as Permanent Secretary was the newly created Ministry for Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, where she embarked on the establishment of the Ministry’s seven Departments and six Units. Taking the bull by the horn, she went ahead to secure office accommodation for the departments in Phases 1 and 3 of the Federal Secretariat Complex, and pursued the creation of a very harmonious working relationship amongst the Management and Staff of the Ministry.
As the Permanent Secretary working in tandem with the then Minister, Mrs. Oyo-Ita took on the re-establishment of Nigeria’s leadership position in the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) and secured the award of the hosting of the 2014 CLGF Annual Board Meeting by Nigeria. She was mandated by the presidency to supervise the preparation of guidelines on the implementation of Constituency Projects Nationwide, which she did and handed over successfully. She participated in the 2013 Ministerial Platform to showcase the Ministry, apart from reviewing the Proposed 2013 Amendment of the National Lottery Act in April, 2013.
She Hosted the forum of key functionaries of Local Governments in Nigeria in December 2013 where issues bordering on the uplifting the status of Local Governments in Nigeria were deliberated upon. In her dogged determination to carry out her assignments, she also successfully carried out Monitoring and Evaluation of the implementation of the 2013 Constituency Projects in 24 States of the Federation and the FCT which was flagged off by the Minister at a Constituency project site in Kubwa, the Federal Capital Territory( FCT).
These noble achievements no doubt had endeared her to Mr. President, who was desirous of appointing a reform-minded person that would help build the country’s bureaucracy.
Upon her appointment in October 2015, her first pronouncement was the initiation of a more holistic reform of the Nigeria’s civil service to restore the lost glory with a view to ensuring effective service delivery to Nigerians.
According to her, there was need to build on the brilliant ideas of her predecessor in order to move the service to greater heights. Among the reforms to be carried out in the wisdom of the astute bureaucrat, include, but not limited to achieving financial accountability, value for money through capacity building, and structured training programmes to equip the civil servants with relevant skills to do their work diligently and efficiently.
Worthy of note is the inclusion of personnel structure and performance Management System (PMS), where there would be reward for hard work and effective service delivery and possible sanctions for poor performance. She has just concluded tours in some of the training institutions like Centre for Management Development as part of her drive to see first-hand the institutions’ challenges and how best to tackle them.
Furthermore, Oyo-Ita, a no nonsense bureaucrat hates wastages and leakages. No wonder when the federal government recently established the Efficiency Unit at the Federal Ministry of Finance, she was found to be a ready promoter and pillar of support for the unit as part of government’s effort in blocking leakages in the public service procurement processes.
Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita is a native of Adiabo Okurikang community of Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State. Born in April 1964, Oyo-Ita had her secondary education at Queens College Yaba, Lagos. After her secondary education, she got admission into the University of Lagos where she studied and obtained a B.Sc. in Accounting in 1984. She also holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Nasarawa State University.
After several years in the civil service, she became the Director of Finance and Accounts at the Head of Civil Service of the Federation. She was the immediate permanent secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Prior to this, she also served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs.
Oyo-Ita is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and also a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIT) and was the first female indigenous Managing Director/CEO of the Cross River Estates Limited. She has attended several workshops and seminars both within and outside the country which has contributed in moulding this accomplished Civil Servant. She is a great motivator and team player with wonderful sense of humour.
Winnie, as she is fondly called by family and friends, is a widow with three sons and several adopted children.
