Control of The Civil Service in Nigeria

This article provides how the Nigerian Civil Service is being controlled.

The civil service is controlled in the following ways:

1. General orders: Civil servants are bound by general orders also called civil service rules which outlines the rules and regulations governing conditions of service, duties and discipline of civil servants.
2. Judicial control: Civil servants are required to operate within the law, and their actions can be nullified and culprits punished by a court of law, when they violate the laws that established the institution, or other laws in the country.
3. Control by the press: The activities of civil servants are closely monitored and publicized by the press, in order to check their excesses and make them accountable to the people.
4. Control by the public complaints commission (ombudsman): The commission is empowered to receive complaints, investigate and check any arbitrary or illegal actions of civil servants and make suitable recommendations.
5. Control by the civil service commission: This body is vested with the powers to recruit, promote, transfer, discipline and dismiss civil servants according to laid down rules.
6. Ministerial control: The ministries of finance, economic development and establishments control the civil service through the management and control of expenditure, salaries, conditions of service and pension schemes fro civil servants.
7. Legislative control: The legislature consists of the people’s representatives in the law making arm of government. It has the power to investigate all the financial or some other sensitive transactions of a particular ministry or department and adjust their budgetary allocations over a given period. Ministers and commissioners can be invited to appear before the legislators, to explain the activities of their ministries and departments.
8. Tenure: There is a limitation to the number of years of age at which civil servants can serve before retirement.

Although, there are other ways by which the civil service can be controlled, the above are used for educational purposes.