Henceforth, with the exception of farming, 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.
Consequently, government has called on civil servants to adhere strictly to the provisions of the law, which forbids public officers from engaging in private practice.
Investigations by The PUNCH revealed that the decision followed a debate that had lingered from the era of military regimes when medical doctors were permitted to practise privately by being in government’s employ and also owning private hospitals.
A source said, “But the 1999 Constitution did not make provision for that; what was prevailing then has been overtaken by the 1999 Constitution.”
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bukar Aji, according to a statement issued in Abuja by the Director (Communications) in the Office of the HOS, Mr. Tope Ajakaiye, has issued a 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.”
He also 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.
Specifically, 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.”