The Nation Newspaper

Tag: federal civil service

  • High turnover of first class graduates not measure of university’s quality-Don

    High turnover of first class graduates not measure of university’s quality-Don

    Dr Ben Ugheoke of the University of Abuja says high turnover of first class graduates by a university is not a measure of the quality of products of such institution.

    Ugheoke, who lectures at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

    Ugheoke said that it was his personal view that universities padded results to notch up their graduates.

    “The number of first class graduates from a university does not reflect the quality of the products of such university.

    “After examination, the academic and examination boards at the departmental levels sit to moderate the result and at that level, padding may come up.

    “I see it as padding what is wrong to make it seem as if it is normal; it is my personal view; they look at the result and make it look like a normal distribution.

    “It has come up in out senate; and our senate rejected it that we cannot do it because other people are doing it,’’ he said.

    He said, however, that there were advantages associated with such padding as it was difficult to secure employment in the Federal Civil Service without a Second Class Upper grade.

    Ugheoke said that some institutions whose Second Class Lower graduates were better than Second Class Upper graduates elsewhere would put their products at disadvantage if they refused to pad them.

    “It does not follow a straight line curve to say that first class is a measure of good output from a particular university,’’ he said.

  • EFCC uncovers 37,395 ghost workers in Federal Civil Service

    EFCC uncovers 37,395 ghost workers in Federal Civil Service

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has uncovered 37,395 ghost workers on the Federal Civil Service payroll, its Acting Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, said yesterday.

    Magu, who spoke at an anti-corruption sensitisation programme, organised by the commission for workers in Works and Housing sectors, added that the government lost about N1 billion to the ghost workers.

    He said besides the widespread procurement fraud in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the issue of ghost workers was a source of concern to the commission.

    “EFCC has uncovered 37,395 ghost workers in the Federal Civil Service and investigation is still on.

    “Our investigation has shown that the Federal Government lost close to N1 billion to these ghost workers.

    “The figure will definitely increase as we unravel more ghost workers buried deep in Federal Civil Service payrolls,’’ the commission’s chairman said.

    He explained that the commission had established a Procurement Fraud Unit to handle the increasing petitions relating to violations of the Public Procurement Laws.

    Magu advised civil servants to avoid any act in breach of public procurement, warning that violators risked imprisonment and dismissal from service.

    “In regard to procurement fraud, there has been a sharp rise in the number of petitions relating to violations of the Public Procurement Act (2007).

    “That is what informed my setting up a Procurement Fraud Unit, which has commenced investigation of procurement fraud cases, with some already in courts.

    “Let me warn that civil servants found guilty under the Public Procurement Act risk terms of imprisonment, ranging from five to 10 years, and in addition, may face dismissal from service.

    “The commission is determined more than ever before to rid MDAs of fraudulent activities.’’

    The EFCC chairman announced that the commission planned to place suggestion boxes at designated places for people to drop petitions and reports of corrupt practices to assist the commission in the fight against corruption.

    Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary (Works and Housing), Alhaji Abubakar Magaji, said as the drivers of government policies, MDAs, should be in the forefront of compliance with public service laws and regulations.

    He said: “It is rather sad that over time, the laws, regulations and standard practice governing the operations of the public service are being neglected and often abused, in many cases with impunity.

    “The MDAs are expected to be in the forefront of compliance with extant laws and regulations, because they constitute the engine room of government.

    “They are responsible for implementation of government’s policies and programmes. Therefore, the success or failure of such policies and programmes are on the shoulders of public officers.’’

     

     

  • Heads roll in federal civil service over employment racketeering

    Heads roll in federal civil service over employment racketeering

    • Officials lose jobs in N160m deal

    Some top Federal Civil Servants have been fired for allegedly extorting about N160million from desperate job seekers.

    The deal was carried out in one of the parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture during the last dispensation, it was revealed yesterday.

    Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed said the dismissed officials collected N400, 000 each from 400 people whose names were then included in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel System (IPPIS).

    Mohammed, at a meeting with On-Air-Personalities in continuation of his five-day consultations with critical stakeholders in the media industry, said the culprits included Grade Level 17 officers in  the parastatal.

    “The first scandal I met in one of the parastatals when I assumed office was the illegal employment of 400 people,” he said.

    “This scandal started with very senior officers up to level 17 in that department. They sent out letters and text messages asking people to apply for jobs for a fee of N400, 000 and they were given letters of employment.

    “They did not stop there. They invited these people to go and be captured on the IPPIS and they even took cameras to hotels to get them captured. At the end of the day the bubble burst.

    “One of the victims told these officials, ‘you cannot take my money and still disengage me. I have a valid letter.’

    “That was how we got to know that there was a dedicated account these people paid into. Of course, we dismissed these officials and we even handed them over to the Police,“ the Minster said.

    Mohammed said that the incident showed how faulty the IPPIS was and how it had been compromised by unscrupulous elements.

    He said that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was doing all it could to make the IPPIS tamper-proof and guide it from people who might want to load ghost workers on it.

    He described On-Air Personalities as very important in the media industry and urged them to leverage on their platforms to educate the people on government`s policies.

    The minister said the current war against corruption was a war of survival for the nation and urged all Nigerians to give it the necessary support.

    Only last week, Communications and Technology Minister   Adebayo Shittu, suspended the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Peter Jack indefinitely for “misconduct”.

    The suspension, according to Minister’s Special Assistant on Media Victor Oluwadamilare, was on the strength of petitions over alleged wrong doings in NITDA and subsequent preliminary findings of an Investigative Committee set up by the Ministry.

    Oluwadamilare said: “The petitions against Mr Jack relate to illegal employments not approved by the appropriate authority and procurements carried out in direct contraventions of laid down rules and procedure unknown to Civil Service administration in Nigeria.”

    He added:” Some of the infractions identified by the Investigative Committee made up of three senior Ministry officials include unauthorised illegal recruitment of additional staff totalling 245 within a spate of seven months.

    “According to the Committee’s startling findings, “as at 29th May, 2015, NITDA only had a staff complement of 74. But from May, 2015 to 31st December, 2015, additional 245 staff were employed in questionable circumstances despite clear instruction from the Ministry directing suspension of employment in the Agency.

    “These disclosure were deduced from the records provided by Mr. Jack, although he was unable to provide concrete information on whose authority he embarked on the massive recruitment and who granted him the authority for officials to be seconded to NITDA from other MDAs,” the statement added.

    “Prior to this development, the suspended DG was specifically directed by the Ministry not to embark on a recruitment exercise purported to have been scheduled for 17th December, 2015, but he defiantly went ahead to recruit without authority.”

    Soon after President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office in May last year, the federal government suspended the last recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) conducted on the directives of the immediate past President, Goodluck Jonathan between March and April 2015.

    The Board of Prisons, Immigration, Civil Defence and the Fire Service directed immediate suspension of every activity related to the recruitment until further notice.

    The NIS headquarters instructed State Commands and heads of training institutes to recall newly recruited persons sent for training at the Immigration Service Training Schools at Orlu, Kano and Ahoada.

    During the now suspended employment exercise, less than 5,000 Nigerians, including candidates of families that lost loved ones in the botched 2014 recruitment that resulted in the death of about 15 applicants were enlisted and sent for training to become personnel of the service.