FG Measures to Curtail Leaks of Sensitive Documents Gets Leaked

On Monday, the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation released a circular depicting its intent to create measures to curtail leaks of sensitive documents of the Government’s Ministry, Department, and Agencies (MDA).

In a circular with reference no: HCSF/3065/VI/189 and signed by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, the agency, in its effort to curb future leaks, urged all Permanent Secretaries to fast-track the migration of system workflow to a digitalized platform through an Enterprise Content Management (ECM).

According to the Civil Service Commission, this would reduce physical access to official/sensitive documents and reduce the rate of leaks within government offices across Nigeria.

While this is not the first of such a circular, it reinforces the earlier issued circular of 2nd August 2021 with reference no: HCSF/3065/Vol.1/94, which tends to address the “Unauthorized Circulation of Official Documents/Information on Social Media”.

The commission further advised all Permanent Secretaries’ offices to warn their staff against leaking and circulation of official information and documents.

In part, the circular reads:

Any officer caught engaging in such an unbecoming act will be severely dealt with in line with the relevant provisions of the Public Service Rules and other extant circulars.

Meanwhile, the whistleblower, PIDOMNIGERIA, who made said circular publicly accessible, did so without violating any concerns of national security but to inform the taxpayers of public service malfeasances.

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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Mayowa Durosinmi is a Nigerian investigative reporter for West Africa Weekly with reports focusing on politics, human rights, security and health in West Africa and the Sahel region.

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