President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed Professor Oladapo A. Afolabi as the new Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HOS). The appointment ended the controversial term of Stephen Oronsaye, whose tenure officially expires today having attained 60 years of age.

The new head of service is a professor of Applied Chemistry, and was until his appointment, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education. He will be sworn in on Thursday.

The president, in a statement by his spokesman Ima Niboro, thanked Oronsaye, the outgoing head of service, for his stewardship, and wished him good luck in his future endeavours.

Until his appointment, the new head of service was permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education.

Afolabi, who obtained a Ph.D in Applied Chemistry in 1981, began his public service career as a Graduate Assistant in the Department of at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

He also worked at the University of Zimbabwe and Ladoke Akintola University (then Oyo State University of Technology), Ogbomoso. He joined the defunct Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) in June 1991 and was absorbed as one of the pioneer staff of the Federal Ministry of Environment in 1995.

He was appointed Permanent Secretary in October 2006 and has served in the Federal Ministries of Labour and Agriculture & Water Resources.