The Nigerian government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu has taken steps to stop the leakage of official documents concerning activities and policies of the ministries, agencies and other departments to the general public.
This was contained in a press statement issued by Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation on Monday addressed to major officials of all ministries and other government institutions in the country.
The statement described the rise in leaks of sensitive official papers at Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) as embarrassing and unacceptable.
It continued: “As part of the efforts to curb this undesirable development, all Permanent Secretaries are to fast-track the migration to the digitalised workflow system and ensure effective Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Solution deployment. This will reduce physical contacts with official documents thereby checking the increasing incidence of leakage and circulation of same.
“Furthermore, Permanent Secretaries are advised to strongly warn all staff against leaking and circulating official information and documents. Any officer caught engaging in such unbecoming act will be severely dealt with in line with the relevant provisions of the Public Service Rules and other extant circulars.
This circular therefore reinforces the circular on Unauthorized Circulation of Official Documents/Information On Social Media” Ref. No. HCSF/3065/Vol. 1/94, dated 2nd August, 2021; and other regulations prohibiting unauthorized disclosure/leakage of official documents.
“Permanent Secretaries are to ensure strict compliance with the contents of this circular and draw the attention of the Heads of the agencies under their supervision to same.”