Approximately 100 civil servants in Cross River State are facing sanctions for absenteeism, truancy, dereliction of duty, lateness to work, and other disciplinary infractions.
Dr. Innocent Eteng, the Head of Service of the state, announced this during his visit on Monday to several Ministries, Departments, and Agencies in Calabar, the state capital.
Dr. Eteng, who assumed office just a week ago, expressed his displeasure with the laxity displayed by civil servants.
He ordered the Heads of Administration of seven MDAs that he visited between 8:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. to query employees who were not present at their duty posts.
The responses to these inquiries are to be submitted to his office within 24 hours.
MDAs whose staff face sanctions include the State Ministry of Health, Lands and Survey, State Planning Commission, and Internal Revenue Services, among others.
“I’m going to discourage that. I am going to ensure that there are sanctions for erring staff. It’s going to be a routine. Monitoring is part of my duty. I want to ensure that MDAs are visited regularly to ensure that staff comes to work early,” said Dr. Eteng.
He emphasized that his initiative to visit the MDAs is aimed at determining if employees are genuinely performing their duties to enhance the state’s productivity and efficiency.
“When I came on board, I observed that there is so much truancy and laxity on the part of civil servants. Some go to work late, and some even leave work before 4 pm. It is my effort to reorganize and put the Service back on track to ensure that there is high productivity and efficiency,” he stated.
Dr. Eteng added that he could not oversee a service that is too relaxed and is committed to ensuring that all civil servants come to work early and perform their duties optimally.
He plans to hold a meeting with all Directors of Administrations in the state civil service to address the observed laxity among staff.
