Nigeria Tightens Study Leave Rules, Mandates Approval From Head Of Civil Service For Workers

The federal government has made it a key requirement for civil servants on study leave to now present evidence of approval obtained from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.

The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, stated this in a circular addressed to all permanent secretaries and sighted by our correspondent on Friday.

She described the measure as a mechanism put in place to verify and ascertain the workers’ true location.

“As part of the efforts to sustain the gains of the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System, it has become imperative to employ a mechanism for regular physical verification of officers in the service.

“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,” Yemi-Esan said.

In August 2021, the federal government had raised concern about civil servants applying for study leave with admission letters obtained from fictitious foreign universities.

Also in 2022, authorities requested such workers to sign bonds in a bid to curtail the abuse of study leave by civil servants.

Olawale Ajimotokan 

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