By Ayodele Oni
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the arrest of those behind payment of salaries to workers that have abandoned duties and travelled abroad.
Speaking Saturday night at an event in Abuja to mark the 2024 Civil Service Award and Gala Night, the climax of the week-long 2024 Civil Service Week, the President stated that “the Head of Service said some of these fraudulent workers have been uncovered. She should not stop there. The culprits must be made to refund the money they have fraudulently collected.
“While I was away in South Africa, I monitored some of the activities and especially read the shocking revelation by the Head of Service about hundreds of workers who had relocated abroad, without formally resigning their appointments and who were drawing salaries from the treasury, for years.
“The culprits must be made to refund the money they have fraudulently collected. Their Supervisors and Departmental 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 delinquent behaviour to take root or be tolerated.
“The Civil Service is the bedrock, the engine, the locomotive of Government, which is necessary for the Government to deliver public goods to citizens. 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.
“Over the decades, successive Governments initiated various National Development Plans and programmes and all relied on the Civil Service to translate such plans into high-impact programmes and projects across all sectors of the nation’s economy. We expect you to do the same under our administration.
“This is why we support building, nurturing, and empowering the human capital in the service. This is why there is a paramount need to enshrine a culture of professionalism and build confidence in Civil Servants.
“Our administration appreciates the inherent challenges the civil service faces. I want to give you the assurance that we are committed to ensuring the welfare and development of all civil servants to deliver optimal performance for the growth of our nation.
“In the past year, I have provided all the necessary support to the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to ensure the continued stability of the civil service and to implement far-reaching policies and reforms capable of improving efficiency and service delivery.”
President Tinubu charged civil servants not to hide under due process to slow down government activities saying “I am aware that due process must be followed in conducting government business but that should not give room for any form of red-tapes or insistence on unnecessary bureaucracies.
“We have pledged to work for the Nigerian people, and it is critical that all civil servants, and indeed all public servants, recognize the key role they play in the achievement of our full potential as a nation.”
