Head of Department(HOD) of various departments in Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies which members of staff continued to receive salaries after unofficially relocating abroad may be sacked if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s order is anything to go by.
President Tinubu ordered that all staffers that continued to receive salaries after they had unofficially relocated and failed to resign should refund the salaries so far collected.
He handed down the order at the 2024 Civil Service Award and Gala Night on Saturday.
Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation(SGF) Senator George Akume, the president ordered that heads of department and units where the affected staffers worked be made to face punitive measures.
Such heads would be punished for allegedly aiding and abetting the affected staffers.
The address of Mr. President reads inter alia: “During my recent visit to South Africa, I kept abreast of the week’s activities and was particularly struck by the revelations shared by the Head of the Civil Service regarding employees who had relocated abroad while drawing salaries without formally resigning.
“It is heartening to hear that measures have been taken to address this issue, but we must ensure those responsible are held accountable and restitution is made.
“The culprits must be made to refund the money they have fraudulently collected.
“Their supervisors and department heads must also be punished for aiding and abetting the fraud under their watch.
“The Nigerian Civil Service cannot just be a workplace where ‘anything is possible, ‘where workers violate rules without the fear of punishment or repercussion.
“The civil service of any nation is too important for such misconduct to take root or be tolerated.
“As politicians, we are no more than drivers of the locomotives that you provide.
“Those who say that a nation is as good as its civil service are close to the truth.
“You are the real establishment that remains to pilot government affairs as we politicians come and go.”