The Federal Government has said that Federal Civil Servants on study leave are henceforth, demanded to show evidence of approval obtained from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.
This development was made known in a memo issued by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan addressed to all permanent secretaries and made available to journalists in Abuja on Friday 22 March 2024.
Yemi-Esan noted that the Federal Government has now put in place a mechanism for routine verification of workers in the service in other to ascertain their “true” location.
Recall that the Federal Government had in August 2021 alerted civil servants applying for study leave with admission letters obtained from suspicious foreign universities.
In the same vain, in 2022, the government ordered that such workers be made to sign bonds in order to address the “abuse” of study leave by civil servants.
While speaking on the new development alongside the need for physical verification, Yemi-Esan, further emphasized that as part of the efforts to sustain the gains of the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System , it was imperative to emplace a mechanism for regular physical verification of officers in the service.
She added, “To this end, you are directed to carry out physical verification exercise of all staff in your ministry to ascertain the location of each officer.
“Officers who may be on study leave must show evidence of the approval of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to embark on such leave. This should be indicated in the remark column.
“The report of the exercise, to be signed by the permanent secretary, should be submitted to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service on or before 2nd April 2024.”
