Civil Servants Who Relocated Abroad Still Collecting Salaries Must Refund – Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has given directives to sanction supervisors and departmental heads aiding and abetting civil and public servants that relocated abroad while drawing salaries without formally resigning.

He gave the directives at an award and Gala night as part of activities to mark this year’s civil service week in Abuja.

The President who appreciated the Head of Service for taking measures to address the issue explained that the culprits must be made to refund the money they fraudulently collected.

While reiterating his administration’s commitment to work for the Nigerian people, the President said it is critical that all civil and public servants, recognize the key role they must play for national development.

“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”.

He stressed further, “The 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 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.”

Earlier, the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan reiterated that MDAs
should
remain committed to
implementing and strengthening their recognition and reward systems to serve as motivation for civil servants to utilize their potential effectively.

While explaining the criteria used for the selection of the awardees, Dr. Yemi-Esan said “MDAs were requested to forward nominations based on
a set of criteria and weightings provided in the approved Rewards and Recognition Scheme Guidelines.”

“This was to ensure further that the selection process was transparent and
credible.
Nominations were received from “Forty-Six (46) Ministries
and Extra-Ministerial Departments, out of which “Six (6)
Ministries” were disqualified for lack of citations, which was the
basis for assessment of nominees and six (6) Ministries”
submitted “double nominations”.

“After a rigorous selection process in line with the Service Wide Criteria and Weighting, “Thirty-Nine Nominees” scored
above the Cut-Off Mark and were selected for
the 2024 Edition of the Federal Civil Service Rewards and
Recognition.”

Florence Adewale, Edited By Grace Namiji