₦3,000 Deduction Controversy: Setting the Record Straight on Dr. Ahmed Hamidu Kara and Taraba Civil Service Reforms
By Liberty Andrew JP
In any democratic society, public discourse must be guided by facts,
Dr Hamidu Ahmed Kara, Taraba State Head of Service
balance and responsibility. Unfortunately, the recent social media accusations against the Head of Service of Taraba State, Dr. Ahmed Hamidu Kara, over the ₦3,000 annual salary deduction imposed on civil servants, have been driven more by emotion than evidence. What is being circulated is not reform advocacy but an attempt to smear a reputation that took decades of disciplined service to build.
It is important to clarify from the outset that the ₦3,000 deduction is neither arbitrary nor personal. The policy was formally approved in 2024 by Governor Dr. Agbu Kefas after deliberations with the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) and organised labour. This approval was granted before Dr. Ahmed Hamidu Kara was appointed Head of Service. His role, therefore, is not that of a policy architect but that of an administrator enforcing an already approved and negotiated framework of government.
The Origin and Purpose of the Policy
For many years, the Taraba State Civil Service has struggled with poor compliance in the completion of the Annual Performance Evaluation Report (APER) — a statutory instrument for measuring productivity, discipline and professional development. Ideally, civil servants should submit APER forms annually. In practice, however, many only remembered the process when promotion exercises approached, thereby undermining performance management and institutional efficiency.
The vacuum created by this neglect was exploited by dubious intermediaries. Civil servants were compelled to buy APER forms at exorbitant rates — sometimes ₦5,000 per form and up to ₦15,000 in total costs — from unauthorised individuals. Instead of funds going into government revenue, they were diverted into private pockets. The workers were cheated, and the system became corrupted.
To stop this abuse, the Office of Establishments sought approval for a uniform, transparent and modest yearly deduction of ₦3,000 to centrally produce and distribute standardised APER forms to all civil servants without exploitation.
Governor Kefas’ Pro-Worker Intervention
Before the deduction framework took full operational effect, Governor Dr. Agbu Kefas, in his pro-worker disposition, produced and distributed APER forms free of charge to civil servants when he assumed office. This intervention reduced financial pressure on workers while signalling the government’s commitment to reform rather than punishment.
Thus, portraying the deduction as a fresh burden introduced by Dr. Kara is politically misleading. Both the Governor and the Head of Service met the structure on ground and merely chose to sanitise it, block leakages and restore professionalism.
Labour Involvement and Institutional Legitimacy
Contrary to social media speculation, the policy was not imposed secretly. The ₦3,000 deduction received formal approval in 2024 following negotiations with the Joint Negotiating Council and organised labour. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was carried along and later reconfirmed the arrangement at the Office of the Head of Service.
Policies affecting workers are products of dialogue, fiscal review and administrative consensus. Reducing such a process to a personalised attack against the Head of Service reflects either ignorance of governance mechanisms or deliberate political mischief.
Enforcement Is Not Creation
Dr. Ahmed Hamidu Kara’s responsibility is enforcement, not invention. He did not design the policy, did not negotiate it, and did not approve it. He simply implemented what government and labour had already agreed upon before his appointment. Blaming him for executing a lawful directive is akin to faulting a referee for applying the rules of the game.
Public officers must be scrutinised, but scrutiny must be anchored in truth. Dr. Kara’s reputation, built over many years of service, deserves protection from narratives rooted in distortion.
Social Media, Politics and Responsible Engagement
While social media remains a powerful tool for civic engagement, it must not replace investigation with insinuation. Activists owe the public a duty to verify facts before publication. Governance advances through dialogue, not distortion; reform survives on truth, not propaganda.
Conclusion
The ₦3,000 deduction is not extortion, not punishment, and not a personal agenda of the Head of Service. It is a labour-negotiated, governor-approved administrative reform aimed at protecting civil servants from exploitation, strengthening performance evaluation, and sealing revenue leakages.
Governor Dr. Agbu Kefas approved it in 2024 after engagement with the Joint Negotiating Council, long before Dr. Ahmed Hamidu Kara became Head of Service. His role is enforcement, not authorship.
Rather than weaponising reforms for political drama, stakeholders should engage constructively and support policies that enhance dignity, accountability and professionalism in the Taraba State Civil Service.
In governance, facts must always rise above noise.
Liberty Andrew JP is a Journalist and public affairs commentator based in Jalingo
