The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Civil servants

  • Fed Govt decries spending 70 per cent of revenue on recurrent expenditure

    The Federal Government has raised the alarm that about 70 per cent of the monthly revenue inflow into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) is spent on recurrent expenditure.

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, stated this yesterday in Abuja at a retreat on the roles of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the implementation of IPPIS and its effect on workers’ condition of service and government revenue.

    Mrs Ahmed, who was represented by an official of the ministry, Dr Armstrong Ume Takang, said the trend of spending about 70 per cent of the revenue flowing into the CRF “will not free the much-needed resources for improving our standard of living”.

    Among the ways to solve the problem, the minister noted, is through the continued implementation of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), which was introduced in 2007.

    She said: “Available records from the Federal Ministry of Finance, through the activities of the activities of the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), have revealed a saving of over N500 billion.”

    The minister noted that a substantial part of this amount was saved through continuous verification of the Nominal Roll and Payrolls of MDAs.

    Also, direct savings from the yearly appropriations of MDAs on the IPPIS platform has grown to over N100 billion while 519 MDAs have been brought under the policy, she said.

    Read also: Federal Government urges court to order Innoson chairman’s arrest

    Mrs Ahmed also said government personnel found to have been involved in the inclusion of “ghost workers” in their records on the platform were being prosecuted while others were serving jail terms.

    She added: “Until the IPPIS platform is efficiently implemented to the stage where it is absolutely impossible to insert ghost employees or where personnel, on reaching the mandatory retirement age or length of service can be automatically removed and transferred from the active workforce to the pension records, then the aims and objectives of the policy would remain unachieved.”

    The minister highlighted the challenges bedevilling IPPIS, including: lack of reliable and comprehensive database for the public service, inability to forecast manpower needs and requirements of MDAs, growing wage bill as well as a lack of synchronisation of civil servants records with pension administration.

    The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Idris Ahmed, noted that “there are over 700,000 workers on IPPIS platform, 39 Nigeria Police commands and three formations, four paramilitary agencies and retired Heads of Service and permanent secretaries”.

    He added: “In addition, the trial payroll for the military and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) is scheduled to begin in May.”

    The AGF listed the challenges to the implementation of IPPIS to include change management issue, institutional resistance, lack of commitment from MDAs, conflict of roles and laws among the stakeholders and delay in enrolment processes.

    Also, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, explained that the learning management component of the IPPIS module was on course.

    According to her, very soon, the training of 25,000 civil servants will begin.

    She said: “The activities towards the implementation of the HR module have started fully, first with the online records update. This was followed by the verification of all public servants, starting with core civil servants with the view of cleansing and migrating the data of all public servants on the IPPIS portal.

    “The verification has been completed in Lagos and Abuja. Indeed, the OHCSF, being the pilot, is now live on the IPPIS portal with employees being able to carry out the self-service component of IPPIS.”

  • Most civil servants are contractors, politicians — Expert

    Prof. Tunji Olaopa, Executive Vice Chairman, Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy, has said that a large number of civil servants in the country were either contractors or politicians.

    Olaopa said this in Benin on Thursday in his paper at the 30th memorial lecture in honour of Chief Joseph Imoukhuede, the pioneer Secretary to the Government of old Mid-Western Region.

    He said the development was responsible for the non-performing public service.

    ” In my research during PHD, I discovered that large numbers of civil servants are contractors or politicians.

    ” You cannot be a civil servant at the same time a contractor. You can not be a politicians and a civil servant.

    “If you want to be a contractor, you go to the private sector,” he said.

    He added that “for the civil service to work, we must put in place a new human resources architecture that will attract those who are eminently qualified.

    ” In my discussion with civil servants, I discovered that over 30 percent of them do not possess the certificate they claimed.

    “Even when I was a clerk in the civil service, I write better than those who claimed they have master degree,”

    According to him, “in the era of Chief Imoukhuede, the distinguishing feature that stood him out was integrity, public service value and respect for governance codes embodied in the dynamics of the rule of law.

    “This was represented by a leadership by example that ensured that politicans and bureaucratic leadership held itself to the standard of personal and public accountability,”

    He said the failure to interrogate the capacity readiness of the civil service in the post-colonial Nigeria led to the emergency of crippling process, policy, capacity performance and resource gaps which undermine the capacity of democratic governance to achieve service delivery.

    He said the nation’s public service needed to upgrade into a profession that would attract the real public spirited officers, noting that future of democratic governance in the country rest on institutional capacity of the public service.

    Olaopa, however, noted that the problem of Nigeria was fundamentally largely of insufficient leadership sophistication and political will to create a viable political climate for shared understanding among the people.

    Also speaking, former Executive Director, Bank of Industry, Mr Waheed Olagunju noted that “we are where we are today because of leadership failure over the years.”

    According to him, there is no way you can alleviate poverty without strong public service.

    He said education is important in public service and that if we fail to get education right we will not get anything right.(NAN)

  • ICPC recovers N594b from civil servants

    THE Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has recovered N594 billion allegedly stolen from government establishments between 2016 and last year.

    According to the Commission, the funds were recovered from ex-civil servants in various Ministries, Parastatals and Agencies (MDAs) across the country.

    Involved in the sharp practice are retired civil servants still drawing salaries and others in the service but collecting double salaries.

    Johnson Oludare, an Assistant Director, Special Initiative on Continuous Audit, broke the news at the North Centre Town Hall meeting organised by the African Center for Media & Information Literacy with the theme:  “Whistleblowing and fight against corruption” in Minna, Niger State.

    HHe said: “The N594,089,136,242 billion were monies recovered from 800 ex-employees that are still collecting salaries and benefits, 400 that are still in active service, but collecting double salaries, while 1200 staff connived with  Micro Finance Banks to steal from various MDA between 2016 and 2018.”

    According to Oludare, recoveries were from two class of individuals namely, the classified political thieves and the unclassified thieves that connived with MDAs, parastatals and agencies to steal public funds.

    The director noted that the anti-graft agency is confronted with a lot of challenges in the discharge of its duties that include lack of legal frame work, adequate funding, lack of public awareness as well as lack of proper organisation of the whistleblowing unit, among others.

    Read also: Alleged ICPC probe: Yar’Adua Foundation denies ownership of property

    Another official of the ICPC, Jimoh Suleiman, urged members of the public to speak out against corrupt practices by individuals in organisations in order to help in the investigation and prosecution of corrupt persons.  He said: “The problem sometimes is that corrupt practices are shrouded in secrecy and brought to the open when things go wrong among those involved.”

    He also called on the public to desist from malicious whistleblowing forwarding only true information to the anti-corruption agency.

    The Niger State Acting Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Yahaya Ibrahim Gbongbo, said the fight against corruption can be achieved through value reorientation of the public.

    “Corruption is responsible for the slow paste of development. That is why as a nation, the Federal Government and the legislature must come up with a strong incorruptible legislation to fight it,” the NOA director said.

  • Civil servants urged to shun corruption

    Civil servants have been urged to shun corruption and other related offences in their work places, in line with the anti-corruption mantra of the government.

    Human Resources Management Director, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ajibola Ibrahim, made the call in Abuja during the Sensitisation and Awareness Creation Workshop on Transparency and Anti-Corruption Practices, organised for junior officers.

    Ajibola said the workshop would educate the participants on the proper understanding of corruption, as well as their roles in curbing the menace.

    She noted that corruption was not limited to financial crimes alone, but included the little things you do, or neglect to do, in the conduct of your daily duties like movement of files, handling mails/other official documents.

    Also, the Ministry’s  Director, Special Duties/Projects, Dr. M. E. Nwordu, said the workshop would arm junior officers with adequate information to guide their engagements in line with the principles and practices of transparency.

    She was optimistic that the workshop would lead to enhanced service delivery and aid the war against corruption.

    In his presentation : “The integrity imperative in the workplace”, the Resource Person from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr. Ahmed Abdul, enjoined the management of the ministry to provide not only punitive measures for corrupt practices, but also reward officers for outstanding performance as a motivation to staff.

  • Vote for Sanwo-Olu, others, civil servants told

    The Chief of Staff to Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Mr. Olukunle Ojo, has urged civil servants to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and others in tomorrow’s elections.

    According to him, this is necessary for the public to continue to enjoy the dividends of democracy.

    Ojo said the workers should canvass the support of their friends and neighbours for the APC candidates in the governorship and house of assembly polls.

    He said if the APC candiwon, the progress and development enjoyed by Lagosians will not be truncated.

    Ojo spoke yesterday when he met with the workers at the Office of the Chief of Staff, Alausa, Ikeja to solicit support for Sanwo-Olu, his running mate, Obafemi Hamzat and APC house of assembly candidates.

    Read also: Lokoja Port gets N1.6b crane

    Said he: “Lagos, as we all know, has enjoyed good governance since 1999. Right from the time of our leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to former governor Babatunde Fashola and our vibrant Governor Akinwummi Ambode, Lagosians have been enjoying good governance. It is now time to vote for continuity, and more importantly to take Lagos to the next level. “You can see how our governor is campaigning vigorously for Sanwo-Olu and other APC candidates. So let all of us contribute our quota, perform our civic responsibilities by campaigning for the APC candidates. Please go out and vote massively for the APC candidates tomorrow.”

  • Civil servants hail Akeredolu over workers’ welfare

    Ondo State civil servants yesterday expressed appreciation to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, for always promoting their interests.

    They hailed the governor for refusing to politicise the civil service.

    According to them, Akeredolu deserved commendation for doing a lot to alleviate the pains his administration inherited from the immediate past administration.

    Head of Service Mr. Toyin Akinkuotu spoke the mind of the workers at an expanded meeting the civil servants held with the governor in Akure.

    He said: “It is on record that no worker is harassed or intimidated by Akeredolu’s administration. The person who alleviated our pains by constantly paying our salaries deserves our commendation.

    “He has substantially paid our salary arrears. Promotion of civil servants and other benefits are not left out. We are bold to say that Akeredolu is fulfilling all his pre-election promises to Ondo State civil servants.”

    The Head of Service, however, promised the workers’ continued support for Akeredolu’s administration.

    Akeredolu said workers’ welfare was not what a responsible government should politicise.

    Stressing that a labourer deserves his wages, the governor said no condition would make his administration “return the state civil servants to Egypt, where they would be owed backlog of salaries.”

    The civil servants, however, hailed the governor when he broke the long-awaited news to them.

    He promised to pay their leave bonuses and their remaining one month arrears.

    The governor thanked the workers for their support to his administration and promised that deserving civil servants would earn their promotion.

  • Perm Sec to civil servants: build capacity, add value to service

    • Press Director Olowookere retires

    The Ministry of Labour and Employment Permanent Secretary, Mrs Ibukun Odusote, has urged new employees of the Ministry to see their employment as an opportunity to contribute to national development and add value to the Federal Civil Service.

    The Permanent Secretary, who spoke in Abuja at the induction organised for newly recruited officers, urged them to be patriotic Nigerians, strive to bring glory to the nation by imbibing positive work ethics and shun vices inimical to the service.

    “You are different from the person sitting by you because where you are going is not where the next person is heading, you must remain focused and add value to yourself through capacity development in both computer application, labour laws and public service rules,” she said.

    Mrs Odusote enjoined the inductees to avail themselves of the opportunity provided by the induction to keep abreast of information on basic principles and ethics of the Federal Civil Service. “Make the best of this induction course. We have done our part by organising this course, and it behoves on you to reciprocate this kind gesture by not wasting this opportunity as we have put together eminent resource persons to prepare you on your voyage into the Federal Civil Service,” she said.

    Director, Human Resources Management, Mr Ajibola Ibrahim said  the induction course was aimed at building the capacity of the staff for tasks ahead.

    Ayokunle Oluborode, who spoke on behalf of the inductees, appreciated the government for the employment opportunity and the Permanent Secretary for the opportunity to be part of the induction course, believing that it would enhance their efficiency to deliver on the task ahead.

    In another development, the Ministry’s Press Director, Samuel Olowookere, has retired after 35 years of meritorious service to the nation.

    In a statement by Assistant Director (Press), Rhoda Iliya,  Olowookere was employed on January 19, 1984, and his service in the Federal Civil Service  spanned the Office of the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Dodan Barracks, Lagos, April 1984-1985, Office of the Chief of General Staff, General Staff Headquarters, Dodan Barracks, Lagos, August-December 1985, Office of the Minister, Federal Ministry of National Planning, Ikoyi Lagos, January–August 1986, Office of the Minister, Federal Ministry of Finance, Ikoyi, Lagos, September–October 1986, The Presidency, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, October 24, 1986-October 2006.

    “He was deployed to head the Press and Public Relations Unit Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in 2006, a responsibility he discharged efficiently to the admiration of the nine ministers and 11 permanent secretaries of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, he had the privilege of working with,” the statement said.

  • Ambode praises civil servants

    THE Lagos State Civil Service has helped to reduce waste and boost productivity, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has said.

    He said this was partly the result of the huge investments in knowledge and skills by his administration.

    Ambode spoke during a training  tagged: ‘Effective management strategies for repositioning and higher responsibilities” organised by the ministry of Establishments, Training and Pensions in Lagos.

    Amobode, represented by the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Akintola Benson, said the importance of eliminating waste could not be over-emphasised.

    He noted that studies had shown that with better management of time and resources, meagre resources could produce results.

    In other words, the goverrnor, added, organisations and individuals can achieve more with less.

    Ambode said: ‘’Just like other governments, we want to deliver better education, health care, pensions, and transportation services because they know that impatient electorate expect to see change, and fast. ‘’

    He said the participants should have improved skills and enhanced capacities to improve the capacity of the civil service.

    “The state wants workers to embrace a lean culture approach to projects and other establishments’ matters. I believe that the training will make the civil service more productive, efficient, and goal-oriented. Ultimately, it will make the  civil service more suited to support the government to realise its core objective of promoting and enhancing the social and infrastructural objectives of the good people of the state.

    “The team work and synergy hold the key to maximum and ultimate performance. There are some who underestimate the value and importance of synergy and team work. Synergy is everywhere in nature. Synergies are not only about cost reduction. Synergies can be access to markets, exchange of products, avoiding overlaps, and exchange of best practices.

    “Also, since the onset of the great recession, ‘doing more with less’ has become a policy mantra. However, this mantra has not translated into actual implementable policies in most segments of the public service in Nigeria. I believe that the impact of rapidly-changing economic and technological landscape has made government’s task of delivering public service more complex. More than ever before, governments all over the world have increasingly come under serious public scrutiny and fiscal pressure to deliver better outcomes to citizens, and to do so more efficiently.

    “As is evident, Nigeria has not been spared from this in recent times. On the one hand, the dynamism presented by the impact of the interaction of economic, technological and other superintending elements in these scenarios have no doubt made governments’ public service delivery duties onerous. On the other hand, however, it has also opened up opportunities for the exploration of out-of-the-box strategies that governments can adopt if found to better the lot of their citizens.”

    Ambode said fhe funds required to meet such expectations were enormous, especially in developed economies where populations are aging and the public sector’s productivity hasn’t kept pace with that of the private sector.

    “The need to get value for money from governments at all levels is, therefore, under the spotlight as never before. But cost-cutting programmes that seek savings of  one to three per cent a year will not be enough and in some cases, may even weaken the quality of service,” he added.

     

  • Oyetola urges civil servants to partner government for progress

    Osun State Governor Gboyega Oyetola has called on public servants to partner him in governing the state.

    Oyetola spoke at an interactive session with senior civil servants, including Permanent Secretaries, Directors, Executive Secretaries and General Managers of parastatals at the Exco Chamber of the Governor’s Office in Abere, Osogbo.

    The governor, who was with his deputy, Gboyega Alabi and Head of Service Gboyega Oyebade Olowogboyega, urged the civil servants to work with him to serve the people.

    He thanked them for their support during the election and promised to prioritise their welfare, even as he advised them not to dichotomise the civil service and the government. “I want your advice at all times and my doors are open to welcome ideas because I won’t claim to know it all,” he said.

    However, the governor warned that civil servants should rededicate themselves to duty and ensure they are productive.

    He said: “I thank you for your support during our last governorship election. I dedicate the victory to all of you and the people of the state. Your welfare is very important to me, so be assured that your welfare will be prioritized always.

    “I don’t want you to dichotomise the civil servicet and government. I welcome useful advise from you. My doors are open and I don’t claim to know it all. Let’s work together. Our aim is that Osun must continue to be great. We are partners, so let’s operate so.

    “We won’t have problems when together we can understand the objective and your humble role is to ensure productivity. Let us rededicate ourselves to the service of the people. Let your conscience guide you in whatever you do. Let us redouble our productivities.

    “I will be committed to regular payment of salaries, but you must raise the revenue. There is no magic about it. Don’t make it look that it is the responsibility of government alone to do this. We can generate up to N8 billion. Solution to lack of fund is to increase our IGR.

    “We can’t continue to depend on federal allocation. We must look inward. In the time of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the old Western region depended on revenue. Awolowo achieved so much with the revenue his government generated internally. So we are going to take an advantage of being an agrarian state. So, I welcome useful ideas from everybody.

    “Again we can engage our youths through mining. We will regulate this. We will look for foreign investors. In tourism, we will turn around the state through this sector. We will be creative in this area.”

    Oyetola hinted to organise an economic summit in the first quarter of next year, saying he would bring experts around the world participate in the programme.

    According to him, he would harness all available resources to make the state develop.

    Many of the senior civil servants praised the governor for encouraging inclusive and participatory governance. They spoke openly about their peculiar needs, making suggestions about things could be done better, praying for success of the Oyetola administration.

  • Lagos seeks civil servants’ help in law implementation

    The Lagos State government has sought the support of public servants for the successful implementation of the soon-to-be-launched mandatory Lagos State Health Scheme (LSHS), especially in the propagation of information about the scheme, its benefits and roles of stakeholders.

    The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, spoke yesterday at a meeting organised by the Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Public Service Office to sensitise public servants on the scheme.

    The commissioner noted that the role of public servants, like other stakeholders, remained important in the successful implementation of the scheme.

    He said: “The reason for this sensitisation meeting is to educate and sensitise you on the reasons for the rollout of the scheme, policy decisions, the modalities of the scheme, the plans, the benefit packages, service provision, premium breakdown and payment modalities as well as your roles and responsibilities of enrolees and stakeholders in the scheme.”

    Idris described LSHS as a compulsory health insurance programme established by the enabling law to ensure that all Lagos residents have access to affordable and quality healthcare.

    The commissioner said the scheme aims at protecting Lagos residents from financial distress resulting from huge medical bills.

    He said the premium payment for a family of six is N40,000 per annum and the premium for single enrolment is N8,500 per year.

    According to him, a premium subsidy of 75 per cent was approved by the State Executive Council (Exco) for public servants.

    Idris said: “What this means is that the state government will pay 75 per cent of the premium while public servants will only be required to pay 25 per cent.”