The Nigerian Government has begun the regulation of social media usage by civil servants, saying their posts should be in support of the government.
Describing the act as ‘improper participation’, the government stated that the action was against public service rules.
“Government has noted with concern the improper participation of public Servants in various media platforms, most especially Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter applications among others to the extent of disclosing sensitive official government information and correspondences.
“Consequent to the above, all public servants in the state are reminded that unauthorized disclosure of official information and false allegations against the government officials are acts of serious misconduct punishable under Public Service Rules (PSR) No. 030401.
“In addition, the unethical participation of some serving public servants in the social media put to question their loyalty to the govemment, which is also a serious misconduct and it violates Public Service Rules (PSR) No.030403, as such public servants are to remain strictly guided on the way and manner to use the social media platforms, respecting the civil service pristine dictum of being reticent characters,” the notice issued by Lawal Ado Dutsin-ma, Permanent Secretary (Administration), for Head of Civil Service, reads.
The government directed all permanent secretaries and chief executive officers of government ministries, departments, agencies and parastatals are directed to “inform all staff under them to remain vigilant on movement of sensitive government documents”.
