In the control of civil service, we have internal and external control.
INTERNAL CONTROL:
The civil service is internally controlled by the General Orders- a body of civil service rules and regulations and Financial Institution- which govern the day to day activities of the civil service. These General Orders and financial institution ensure uniformity in standards, conformity and fairness.
Another form of internal control is through the establishment of circulars that issues commands and directives to civil servants in different ministries. The classism/hierarchy in civil service is another form of internal control. Through this orders, commands and instructions are passed down to the subordinates.
Another form of internal control is through the civil service commission. They control the civil service through recruitment, promotion and discipline. The civil service commissions recruit/appoints the civil servants and report about their performance which is constantly being sent to the civil service commission by the different disciplinary committees in the different ministries.
Through these reports, the commissions appraise the performance of the civil servant and promote/recommends for promotion those that are qualified. They equally discipline those that have gone against the rules and regulation of the service.
EXTERNAL CONTROL
Judicial control:
The judicial control of the civil service is through the institutions such as administrative courts, code of conduct bureau, tribunals, ICPC, EFCC, PCC. An aggrieved officer in the public/civil service can seek redress through these bodies.
Also the civil service works under the framework of the law and as such an offending officer can be handled by these bodies or be dragged to court where he will be punished according to the law.
Control by the press:
The press is the instrument through which people are informed of the happenings in the civil service and through which the people can criticize the operations of the civil service. As a result of the above, civil servants are always conscious of what they do in order to avoid the criticism of the general public and that of the press.The press therefore acts as control over the activities of the civil service.
Parliamentary control:
The legislature has the responsibility to supervise and control the civil service to ensure that they strictly adhere to the rules and regulation of the civil service. To do this they monitor the performance of the civil service in the implementation of approved policies and the use of funds.
The legislature also has the power to set up a committee to investigate and to expose corruption and maladministration in ministries that are found wanting. It also has the power to cut down the budgetary allocation of any ministry that performs below expectation and can equally compel the executive to discipline offending officers according to the rules and regulation of the service.
Public complaint commission control:
The public complaint commission is set up to check the excess and arbitrariness of the executive or the civil servant. An aggrieved civil servant can seek redress against any offending civil servant through the public complaint commission.
Related Topics:
- Functions of Civil Service
- Characteristics of Civil Service
- Organization of the Nigeria Civil Service
- Organization of the Public Service in Nigeria
- Argument in favour of politic-administration dichotomy
- Difference between Public & Private Administration
- Intergovernmental relation in local government
- Sources of revenue for local government
- Factors affecting local government performance in Nigeria