Lagos Threatens To Sanction Civil Servants

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Some officers of the Lagos State government fond of abandoning their duty and thus slowing the pace of governance in the state, may lose their jobs if they continue in such act.

Government has discovered that many officers have been exhibiting serious act of dereliction in the treatment of official correspondence and files and has warned officers that it may be forced to take drastic action against them.

Head of Service (HOS), Mr. Adesegun Ogunlewe, warned that any form of ineptitude or outright dereliction of duty on the part of supervising and subordinate officers in the treatment of official correspondence and files, would attract appropriate sanctions.

“It is therefore to be noted that any form of ineptitude or outright dereliction of duty arising from the treatment of official correspondence and files by subordinate officers would attract appropriate sanctions not only to the defaulting staff but also the supervising officer and/or head of department,” said Ogunlewe in a circular.

Early this year, the state government had issued a directive, giving officers in the state’s public service 48 hours within which to treat and complete assignments on correspondence and files.

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The HOS, however, observed that the long line of reporting system adopted in most ministries and agencies of government where supervising officers minute assignments to subordinate officers, who in turn, minute the same assignment to two or more low ranking officers, was not only causing undue delay in the treatment of correspondence, but also made it difficult to track officers responsible for any delay.

“This long chain of command is rendering the 48-hour deadline on completion of assignments ineffective and of little or no significance. I advised supervising officers to reduce the line of reporting in their respective ministries, department and agencies, MDAs and take steps to put appropriate tracking mechanism in place.

“Supervising officers are enjoined to cultivate the habit of minuting mails and files to a particular officer in charge of a given responsibility for effective action, rather than passing it down a chain of command.

“In order not to leave room for any lapses in the absence of the head of the MDAs, mails and files should be handled by the next most senior officer in accordance with the laid down regulations,” he stated.

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