By Emmanuel Nduka
The Nigerian Government has vowed to come hard with punitive measures against civil servants who have relocated abroad, but continue to hold on to their jobs and draw salaries back home.
President Bola Tinubu has now instructed that such civil servants must refund such monies, while the heads of their departments must be punished for aiding and abetting such behaviors.
Represented by Sen. George Akume, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the president gave the marching orders on Saturday night in Abuja at the annual Awards and Gala Night to mark this year’s Civil Service Week.
“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 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.
“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 president lamented.
President Tinubu added that 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,” he added.
Heritage Times HT recalls that Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, had made the observation during the Media parley to mark the Civil Service Week.
She had hinted that the fear of Federal Government’s wrath, is pushing such relocated civil servants to “voluntarily” resign their jobs back home, and commence refund of “illegally” acquired salaries.
