Civil Service Handbook
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CHAPTER 1 Government Business The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides that ―the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of Government‖ and that, within the context of the ideals and objectives for which provisions are made in the Constitution, the State shall, inter alia: (i) ―harness the resources of the nation and promote national prosperity and an efficient, a dynamic and self-reliant economy,‖ and (ii) control the national economy in such manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity‖. Structure of Government 2. Government is made up of three arms, viz; the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. The Legislature is saddled with the following responsibilities: law making, representation, oversight, and confirming the appointments of Ministers, Ambassadors, Judges, Chairmen and members of Commissions etc. The Executive is responsible for the day-to-day management of Government. In this context, it conceives, formulates, executes and monitors the policies, programmes and projects of the Government. The Judiciary, on its part, simply adjudicates. 3. Nigeria practices the Presidential system of Government under which the Federal Government is headed by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and each of the 36 State Governments is headed by a Governor. At the Federal level, the President of the Senate heads the Legislature, complemented by the Speaker who heads the House of Representatives. The Senate consists of three Senators from each State and one from the FCT, making a total of 109. The House of Representatives consists of 360 members. The Judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria. The Legislature and the Judiciary are headed, at the State level, by the Speaker and the Chief Judge respectively. 4. The law making power of Government is vested in the National Assembly, at the Federal level, and in the House of Assembly at the State level. Either way, the members are elected by Nigerians and, just like the Executive, the main concerns of the Legislative Arm of Government centre on the security as well as 1 economic, political and social welfare of the people. Though the Legislature approves the Budget and makes the laws, it does not implement such laws. That duty belongs to the Executive. 5. Under the Constitution, the Federal Government has exclusive responsibility for specified matters such as Foreign Affairs, Defence, Aviation, Police, Telecommunications, Banking and Currency etc. On some other matters, both the Federal and State Governments share responsibilities. These areas which appear in the Concurrent List in the Constitution, include Health, Education, Roads etc. As a counter-weight to the Exclusive List, residual powers relate to matters upon which only the State Governments are empowered to legislate, e.g. social welfare, cooperative societies etc. 6. There exists, in the country, a third tier of Government called the Local Government of which there are 774 in all, across the nation. Local Government Chairmen and Councilors are also elected and are widely regarded as being closest to the people. The structure of the Local government is less elaborate in comparison with the Federal and State Governments. The topmost career Civil Servant in the set-up is designated as Secretary. 7. The Executive Council of the Federation, otherwise known as the Federal Executive Council or the Cabinet, has the duty and responsibility of determining Government policies on various matters. The Council comprises the Ministers of the Federal Republic. The Secretary to the Council is the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The Council meets regularly, usually weekly. These meetings are attended by a few top aides of the President, including the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the National Security Adviser. 8. In order to facilitate assignment of responsibilities for a group of specific activities, the Civil Service is divided into Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments. Each Ministry is headed by a Minister of Cabinet rank who is the Chief Executive. His Chief Adviser is the Permanent Secretary who is also the Ministry‘s Accounting Officer. In some large Ministries, there are one or more Ministers of State who assist the Chief Executives. Extra-Ministerial Departments, on the other hand, usually have their Chief Executives designated as Chairmen e.g. Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission. Every Chief Executive has the general responsibility for the achievement of the corporate objectives of the establishment. 9. Apart from the Civil Service, the Public Service also encompasses the Armed Forces, the Judiciary, the Legislature and the Police. There are, in addition, Parastatals, Statutory Agencies and Government-owned companies, all of which are attached to Ministries or the Presidency for purposes of supervision and coordination. Depending on their respective enabling legislations, the Chief 2 Executives of these latter bodies are known as Managing Directors, Directors- General or General Managers. Good Governance 10. In recent times, it is being increasingly accepted that good governance is an important fundamental for efficient economic management and development and that it should, as such, be incorporated into our political system. Accordingly, the citizen expects the Government to use State resources to manage the affairs of the country judiciously. Good governance can be understood as comprising the following characteristics: (i) Rule of Law - fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially; - Full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities; - Independent judiciary and an impartial and incorruptible police. (ii) Participation - participation by both men and women; - participation also means freedom of association and expression on the one hand and an organized civil society on the other hand; - participation by direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives. (iii) Transparency - decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations; - information is freely available and accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement; - people understand why government takes certain decisions; - there is zero tolerance for corruption. (iv) Accountability - governmental institutions as well as the private sector and civil society organizations must be accountable to the public and to their institutional stakeholders; 3 - organizations and institutions are accountable to those who will be affected by decisions or actions. (v) Effectiveness and Efficiency - processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal; - need for sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment is recognized; - public officials carry out their duties efficiently and effectively as well as with sensitivity as to how services are best delivered to the public. (vi) Equity and Inclusiveness - ensuring that all members of society feel that they have a stake in it and do not feel excluded from the mainstream; - all groups, especially the most vulnerable, have opportunities to maintain or improve their well being; - citizens of whichever religion, ethnic group, age or sex to be free from discrimination. (vii) Consensus Orientation - need for mediation of the different interests in the society to reach a broad consensus on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be achieved; - a long-term perspective for sustainable human development and how to achieve the goals of such a development. (viii) Responsiveness - institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe. (ix) Security and Order - ensure peace and security and orderliness for citizens to get on with their lives to achieve their optimum. (x) Conflicts - capacity to prevent/manage conflicts in society. 4 (xi) Purposeful Leadership - ensuring credible, honest, disciplined, committed and purposeful leadership (xii) Welfare of People - ensuring welfare of the people through capacity building and socio-economic empowerment. The civil service has a crucial role to play in ensuring that Nigeria is administered in a manner consistent with the aforementioned attributes and characteristics of good governance. 5 CHAPTER 2 Government Revenue and Expenditure The term ―Public Finance‖ is also referred to as ―Government Finance‖ or ―Public Moneys‖. It is defined by Section 2 of the Finance (Control and Management) Act of 1958 to include: (a) The Public Revenue of the Federation (b) Any moneys held in his official capacity, whether subject to any trust or specific location or not, by any Officer in the Public Service of the Federation or by any agent of the government either alone or jointly with any other person. 2. The interest of modern day government in the economy is manifested via intervention through fiscal and monetary policies, using discretionary changes in the levels of government taxes, expenditures and borrowings to achieve desired socio-political and macro-economic objectives. 3. However, government revenue derives from various sources of income and can broadly be classified into two sections, namely: (a) Oil Revenue. (b) Non-Oil Revenue. (i) OIL REVENUE includes Petroleum Profit Tax, Rent Royalities and Government Crude