The Code of Conduct Bureau CCB has asked staff of the Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA to adhere strictly to its public service guideline, or face penalties.

The specifically asked FCTA workers to ensure timely and accurate declaration of their assets for transparency and accountability purposes, as government offices are held in trust on behalf of the citizens.

FCT State Director of the Bureau, Suleiman Usman made the declaration at a one-day enlightenment campaign held in Abuja.

Usman noted that a lot of public servants are still ignorant of some of the relevant information and practices expected of their roles, which is why they unknowingly end up normalizing illegalities within the system.

He also frowned against the practice where public servants use office hours to engage in private businesses, stating that while the CCB will continue to work with stakeholders to keep things in check, the Bureau will not fail to take necessary measures against any civil servant who is petitioned, investigated by the Bureau’s committee and found guilty of using official hours for private businesses.

“We are here to enlighten the Civil Servants in the FCT Administration on the importance of assets declaration and ensure that we have total compliance. We also enlightened them on the Code of Conduct for public officers so that they will know their ‘dos and don’ts’ alongside their responsibilities.

“We don’t expect each person to understand us right away but we are optimistic that various Heads of Departments will help in clarifying our message to individuals who didn’t comprehend.

“The Bureau has a committee that investigates and and take the necessary measure, which is why we specified that civil servants must not engage in direct managing of private business, if they want to carry out private businesses,” he stated.

Also speaking at the event, the Acting Director Reform Coordination and Service Improvement in the FCTA, Jummai Ahmadu, said the enlightenment campaign is a routine activity of the Bureau across the country, done periodically in order to refresh the memories of civil servants on declaration of their assets which is done every 4 years”.

Ahmadu, added that the FCT Administration is taking deliberate efforts to ensure that people know what is expected of them by giving them detailed information on how to declare their assets.

“This enlightenment campaign is a routine activity of the Code of Conduct Bureau that is done periodically across the country and the declaration of assets is done every 4 years which brings the possibility of public servants forgetting what they need to do.

“The government is taking deliberate efforts to ensure that people know what they need to do. The Permanent Secretary has also instructed that more batches of this sensitization will be done in the coming days for civil servants living in the FCT, so that they can get the information comfortably, assimilate it well and then put it to use.”

The post JUST IN: Declare your assets or face sanctions, CCB Warns Fct Staff first appeared on Opinion Nigeria.