Danladi Kifasi: Head of service

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has urged the Federal Government to unify the salaries of civil servants.

The association also called for enhanced condition of service for the nation’s civil servants.

Speaking at a workshop organised by the association in Abuja, Mr Hassan Abba, Chairman, Federal Ministry of Health branch of ASCSN, argued that it would get rid of corruption in the service.

The workshop was entitled “enlightenment workshop on corruption in civil service’’.

He said that the association was ready to take the campaign to the grass root, declaring “we are in support of President Muhammadu Buhari’s war against corruption’’.

According to him, civil service is one aspect of government institution that corruption has eaten deep into especially in the health sector.

“Government policies are geared towards fostering good governance; this cannot be achieved if certain required structures are not put in place for the movers of the policies to be comfortable and shun corruption.

“Today the average civil servant is vulnerable to all sorts of things for him to make the end meet; no good shelter, no uniformity in the emolument and lack of effective motivation.

“These, among others, prompt most of us to corruption to cope with the prevailing life situation,’’ he said.
Abba said civil servants must join hands in the fight against corruption and commended leadership of the union for securing the approval of the president for payment of all outstanding workers claims.

In a paper entitled “Corruption in the Civil Service Fostering Integrity and Good Governance’’, Mr Akeem Lawal, Head, Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation at Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), said that civil servants and public officials were expected to maintain and strengthen the public’s trust and confidence in government.

“Civil servants must demonstrate highest standard of professional competence, efficiency and effectiveness by upholding the Constitution and laws seeking to advance public good at all times,” he charged.