CIVIL SERVICE RULES

The civil service is a collective term for a sector

of government composed mainly of career civil
servants hired rather than appointed or elected.

Civil servant also known as a public servant or

public employee, is a person employed in the
public sector by a government department or
agency for public sector undertakings
 AIMS OF CIVIL SERVICE RULES & REGULATIONS
• The aimed at entrenching the issues of
transparency, Accountability, Justice, Equity,
due process, and the rule of law. All these are
very paramount to the conduct of
Government which all public servants must
imbibe
 VALUES OF CIVIL SERVANT

• 1. Commitment to the rule of law

• 2. Honesty and integrity
• 3. Accountability for decisions and actions
• 4. Political neutrality
• 5. Impartiality in the execution of public
functions
• 6. Dedication, professionalism and diligence in
serving the community
 PUBLIC SERVICE RULES

• Because rules are detailed and lengthy and

cover a wide range, therefore this lecture will
only highlight briefly the provisions of some of
them (Rules) likely to come across with,
shortly in service. These include the rules on:
 1- Appointments/ Recruitment

TYPES
• - Permanent and pensionable appointment:- expected
to work until the age of retirement. This type of
employees are also entitled to payment of pension
• - On probation:- Period of probation e.g. (2 years, 6
month etc before confirmation)
• - On contract for a specified period e.g. 2years, 3years
etc
• - In acting capacity e.g. acting HOD, director etc
• - On temporary basis before confirmation
 - Appointments/ Recruitment
TYPES cont….

• - Part time basis

• - Trainee or pupilage
• - Appointment to senior posts, junior post, (e
g. Junior (Grade Level) GL 03, 04, Senior GL 09,
10) etc. In Nursing services appointment: NO II
= GL07, NO = GL08, SNO = GL10, PNO= GL12
etc
 2- Transfer and secondments:

• - Secondment is the temporary release of an

officer to the service of another Government
approved body or any recognized
international organization for a specific period.
Secondment should be used to fill identified
skills gap. Secondment at officer's request is
subject to a maximum period of 2 years after
which may request for one year extension,
return to his former post or seek for transfer.
• - Transfer is the permanent release of an
officer from one scheduled service to another.
The officer must have been confirmed in his
previous service, his qualification, experience
and career progression must be in tandem
with the scheme of service for his grade
 Transfer cont…
• Provided the contemplated transfer would not
jeopardize the promotion prospect of serving
officers, certification by ministry that there are
vacancies not only in the relevant grade but
also in the applicant's discipline or specialty, If
he has served in his current grade for the
stipulated minimum number of years
prescribed for promotion to an advertised
post.
• CONVERSION:- Movement of an officer from
one cadre on presentation of prerequisite
additional qualification
• ADVANCEMENT:- Upward movement of an
officer within the cadre based on additional
qualification or cognate experience as
provided in the scheme of service
3- Leaving the Service:- To exit from the service

• a- Resignation/ Withdrawal of service - The

officer shall give 1 to 3 month notice
depending on the organization or one month
salary lieu of notice.
• b- Retirement - The retirement age for all
grades in the service shall be 60 years or 35
years of pensionable service whichever is
earlier.
• c- Redundancy - Where an officer's service is
no longer required due to redundancy, i.e.
where the need for a specific job diminishes or
ceases completely, that officer shall be
required to leave the service. A 3-month
salary will be paid in lieu of notice with
redundancy payment in line with statutory
requirement.
• d- Dismissal:- Is the right of an employer to
terminate the contract of service of an
employee with neither notice nor payment, in
lieu of notice on account of gross misconduct
on the part of the employee, which strikes at
the root of the employment contract. This act
must be one that offends the essential
provisions of the employment contract.
 4- Discipline:-

Misconduct, Serious misconduct, Conduct

prejudicial (an unfair feeling of dislike for a
person or group because of race, sex, religion,
etc)
 Who has the authority to discipline?

• The power to dismiss and to exercise

disciplinary control over officers in the Public
Service is vested in the Civil Service
Commission or any other such body e.g. board
members of certain organization.
 Basis for disciplinary procedures

• Disciplinary actions should be directed not

only towards sanctions but to improved
performance. The basis for disciplinary
procedure are initiated due to official
misconduct or general inefficiency
 Disciplinary Actions
• a- Suspension subject to maximum period of 3 months
without pay is a sanction that involves temporary stay-off of
duty with loss of corresponding benefits.
• b- Demotion: A reduction in rank, position, class or pay grade
associated with disciplinary action
• c- Compulsory retirement occurs when an employee
disengages from active service in accordance with the terms
and conditions of service, before attaining the age of 60 years
or 35years of working service.
• d- Interdiction:- a temporary removal of an officer from
performing his normal duties before the outcome of
investigation
 5- Leave:
Types:
• - Annual leave is the absence of an officer from duty for a period
specified time as may be authorized by a superior officer. The period of 30
days, some places excluding weekends
• - Casual leave means the leave obtained to attend to high emergencies
which may not take more than 7days
• - Maternity leave- a period of absence from work granted to a mother
before and after the birth of her child, it ranges from 12, 16, 20weeks to 6
month etc
• - Paternity leave - It is the authorized absence from duty of a serving
male officer to whom a new baby or babies in a case of multiple births is
born or adopted up to a maximum of 10 to 14days in relation to and at
the time of his spouse first two deliveries. Approval is subject to
presentation of child's birth certificate or letter of release as applicable.
 Leave: Types: cont….

• -Vacation leaves which an officer is permitted to

carry forward until the time of his retirement.
Some place is 3month
• - Pro-rata or proportionate leave:- Is a vacation
granted to a new, officers who attend courses of
instruction/training over a period of six months
or retiring officer in proportion to the number
of days he has put into the service. Any period
of service under 30 days is not reckonable
 6- Petitions and Appeals:
• The Public Service Rules define petition as "a formal appeal to
ultimate authority. I.e. the Head of Government for special
consideration of a matter affecting an officer personally"
• The Rules advised officers to as much as possible exhaust all possible
peaceful avenues provided in the Public Service Rules and Circulars
for redress before proceeding to courts of law,
• A petition must be submitted through the proper departmental
channels, namely the petitioner's immediate superior officer. A
petition must bear the full name, staff number. signature and
address of the petitioner
• A petition submitted more than 6 months after the decision
complained of has been given will not be entertained, unless such
delay is supported by valid reasons.
 7- Promotion:
• Promotion to all posts shall be made strictly on the basis of available
vacancies and competitive merit from among all eligible candidates.
While assessing merit of officers, a clear distinction shall be made
between their records of performance or efficiency in lower grade and
their potentials for promotion i.e. ability plus competence to perform
efficiently the duties and responsibilities of the higher post. Seniority
and previous record of performance shall be taken into account in
choosing between candidates with equal potentials for promotion.
Written examination and general satisfactory record of conduct shall also
be considered.
• Failure to pass promotional exams, in some places, Officers who fail the
promotion examination on three 3 consecutive attempts on the same
grade and whose on the job performance has been assessed to be below
average shall be required to leave the service.
 8- Allowances
• Allowances are monetary benefits other than
salary granted to an officer for specific
purpose. All allowances provided for in public
service rule are subject to periodic review by
the National Salaries, Income and Wages
Commission through the issuance of
appropriate Circulars.
 Types of Allowances
• - Shifting allowance
• - Call duty allowances
• - Kilometer/ Transport Allowances
• - Hazard allowances
• - Rent allowance
• - Furniture allowance
• - Uniform allowance
• - Overtime Allowance
• - Local Course allowance
• - Books allowances
• - Teaching Allowances. etc
 9- Emoluments and Increment
• Emolument is compensation based on time
and length of activity for employment services,
or holding office and is generally used in a legal
context. Example overtime, extra classes etc
• Increment is an amount by which your salary
automatically increases after a fixed period of
time. (Formal) Many teachers qualify for an
annual increment. Increase, gain, addition,
supplement etc
10- Examination:- confirmation/promotion

• Examinations are implemented in various

countries for recruitment, admission,
promotion, confirmation etc to civil servant.
They are intended as a method to achieve an
effective, rational public administration on a
merit system for recruiting prospective public
sector employees.
11- Annual Performance Evaluation Report (APER)

• Annual performance evaluation report: Is an

employee performance evaluation, also
known as a "performance review " is a process
used by organizations to give employees
feedback on their job performance and
formally document that performance, most
conduct employee performance evaluations
once per year. It also be used during
promotion.
 12- COMPULSORY MEDICAL TEST

• Medical Fitness Test such as blood and urine

test, BP, diabetes, hearing ability, lungs and
heart rate, X-ray, height, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis,
etc.
 13- Code of conduct:
• Code of Conduct refers to a comprehensive
and systematically arranged collection of laws,
rule and regulations of conduct procedure
that guide, regulate and direct the behavior of
public officers. The overall objective of Code
of Conduct is to ensure public accountability
by public officials.
 Code of conduct cont…..

• Every public servant and indeed public office

holder in Nigeria is expected to abide by the
provision of the Code of Conduct for public
officers as stipulated in the Fifth Schedule, Part 1
of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria (as amended). For the avoidance of
doubt, Part Il of the Fifth Schedule of the
Constitution defines the categories of public
officers for which the Code of Conduct is
applicable to. These are:
 Code of conduct cont…..

• The President, Vice-President, Governor,

Deputy Governor, Ministers, Commissioners,
members of National Assembly and of the
Houses of Assembly of the States, other public
officers or persons as the National Assembly
may by law prescribe shall not maintain or
operate a bank account in any country outside
Nigeria
Other civil service rules include