FG warns civil servants against private practice

By The Rainbow

The Federal Government has warned it will come down hard on any civil servant found engaged in private practice.

The Head of Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bukar Aji, said in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday that any civil servant who engages in private practice to the detriment of their responsibilities in the civil service will be deemed to have committed misconduct as stipulated in the Public Service Rules.

However, this rule does not apply to farming.
Aji in a statement by the Director (Communications) in the Office of the HOS, Mr. Tope Ajakaiye, urged civil servants to adhere strictly to the provisions of the law, which forbids public officers from engaging in private practice.

The HOS has issued a backing circular warning that failure to comply with this directive will not only be regarded as an unconstitutional act, but also an act of misconduct under the Public Service Rules.

In the circular entitled, 'Code of Conduct for Public Officers', which has been communicated to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government, the HOS reiterated the observation made at the 37th meeting of the National Council on Establishments that 'some public servants engage in private practice to the detriment of the services they were employed to render to the public.'

Aji particularly drew the attention of all public officers to Part I, 5th Schedule, Section of 2 (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Section provides, 'Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing paragraph, a public officer shall not, except where he is not employed on full-time basis engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade, but nothing in this sub-paragraph shall prevent a public officer from engaging in farming.'