THE Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs Folashade Yemi-Esan, has warned public service workers in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to desist from using fraudulent channels in the processing of official gazette, a Circular from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation has revealed.
The six-paragraph Circular, with Reference number HCSF/CSO/HRM/M.1355/T/26, dated 5th August, 2021, entitled: “New Procedure for Gazette Publication in the Federal Public Service” and signed by Mr M. Mamman, Permanent Secretary, on behalf of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, threatened that “[a]ny officer found involved in the production of fake gazette will be severely dealt with in line with the provisions of extant rules and regulations.”
The Circular reads: “It has been observed with great concern that some officers process their requests for gazette publication through unofficial channels.
“2. In an effort to address this challenge, the process of gazette publication will henceforth be as follows:
“(i) All MDAs are to appoint a desk/liaison officer who will be responsible for processing and liaising with the OHCSF on all issues relating to staff incidences;
“(ii) All requests for gazette publication are to be signed by the Director Human Resources Management of the MDA.
“(iii) The list of staff movements/changes for new appointment, confirmation, transfer, conversion, upgrading, promotion of all officers is to be forwarded to the OHCSF in both hard and soft copies, with all relevant documents attached including the officers’ IPPIS numbers.
“3. All the harvested requests will be processed by the OHCSF and forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture under the signature of only the Director, National Record Centre (NRC) for publication in both hard and soft copy (sic). The soft copy will be made available on the OHCSF’s website: www.ohcsf.gov.ng (with a seal for authentication) from where copies would be printed by those who desire. (His emphasis).
“4. Officers are advised to desist from patronizing unofficial channels in the processing of gazette as only the officially transmitted names from MDAs and duly signed by the Director Human Resources Management, will be processed for publication.
“5. Any officer found involved in the production of fake gazette will be severely dealt with in line with the provisions of extant rules and regulations.
“6. Please, bring the contents of this circular to the attention of all concerned for strict compliance.”
National Record gathered from a source familiar with the reasons for the circular but who pleaded anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak on behalf of the office, that the warning became necessary following the discovery of some syndicates specialised in altering or falsifying service records of public service workers to elongate their stay in office beyond their mandatory retirement age of 35 years of service or 60 years of age, whichever comes first.
Efforts to speak with to speak with the spokesperson of the Office of the Head of service failed as calls to Office of the Head of Service did not go through.
The circular was copied the Chief of Staff to the President, Commander-in-Chief, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Office of the Vice-President, Honourable Ministers and Ministers of State, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Clerk of the National Assembly, Chief Registrar, Supreme Court of Nigeria, all federal Permanent Secretaries, the National Security Adviser, Special Advisers/Senior Special Advisers, Service Chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, as well as chairmen of all federal government commissions and agencies.
