The Nigerian Government has clamped down on what it says is “improper participation” by Public Servants on social media, saying officials should be posting only in support of the administration.
In a statement, the Government said that critical posts were against Public Service rules.
“Government has noted with concern the improper participation of Public Servants in various media platforms, most especially Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter applications among others, to the extent of disclosing sensitive official Government information and correspondences,” the statement said.
“In addition, the unethical participation of some serving Public Servants in the social media puts to question their loyalty to the Government, which is also a serious misconduct and it violates Public Service Rules,” it said.
Meanwhile, Head of the Federal Public Service, Folasade Yemi-Esan (pictured) has announced an “aggressive deployment of technological innovations to transform the nation’s Public Service”.
Dr Yemi-Esan said arrangements had been completed for the establishment of a Service Innovation Department in her office.
“The Government had realised the critical role which technological innovations play in developing a global economy, and has adopted it as the strategy for repositioning the Public Service for efficiency,” Dr Yemi-Esan said.
Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola urged Public Servants to take the initiatives and reform policies seriously, because an efficient Public Service was indispensable to good governance.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced new ways of doing things on the world, and the Nigerian Public Service must not be lagging in this regard,” Mr Fashola said.
Abuja, 9 August 2020
