Head of Service Threatens to Sanction Perm Secretaries for Poor Handling of Litigation against FG

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Head of Service (HoS)of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, has threatened to sanction Permanent Secretaries over the increase court cases stemming from dismissal and termination of appointment of staff without proper administrative procedures by some Ministry, departments and agencies(MDAs).

The threat was contained in a memo dated December 6 with reference no: HCSF 3065/Vol.1/12 and copied to the Chief of Staff to the President, the ministers, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), permanent secretaries and all the heads of the government agencies.

She said the poor handling of disciplinary matters was leading to avoidable court cases, consequential financial implications and embarrassment to government.

The memo was titled, “Need To Prevent Avoidable Litigations Arising From Poor Handling Of Disciplinary Cases In MDAs”.

She vowed that henceforth permanent secretaries and chief executive officers in the MDAs shall be held liable for the matter.

The memo reads: “It has been observed with great concern that there is an increase in court cases arising from dismissal and termination of appointment of staff without proper administrative procedures by some MDAs.”

This has led to avoidable litigation leading to court judgements against government with huge consequential financial burden.

“In most cases, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) is joined as defendant in the litigations instituted by the aggrieved staff or their unions. The consequential appearance by the legal officers deplete the limited resources of the Office,” Yemi-Esan frowned.

She urged MDAs to follow due process in handling staff matters, especially disciplinary cases by following extant rules, regulations and guidelines, particularly the Public Service Rules (PSR) that guide disciplinary processes and “Guidelines on Appointments, Promotion and Disciplines” issued by the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC).

She also made reference to a Circular, Ref. No. FCSC/CHMN/CL/17/WII/41 dated 24th October, 2013, issued by the FCSC on the matter.

“In cases where there are doubts, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation should be contacted for guidance.

“Henceforth, Permanent Secretaries and Chief Executive Officers (CEOS) whose poor handling of disciplinary matters leading to avoidable court cases, consequential financial implication and embarrassment to government shall be personally held liable,” the memo said.