Forty-two staff of the State House, Abuja were on Tuesday administered the oath of secrecy due to classified documents that pass through them.
Justice Hamza Muazu of the FCT High Court administered the oath to them.
Permanent secretary, State House Tijjani Umar warned that disclosing confidential information without authorisation will attract penalties under public service rules.
‘‘We discovered that due to deployment of officers and retirement a number of our staff need to be placed under the radar so that they will be aware that their jobs, the kind of documents or information they are handling from day to day and beyond, are so important and must be safeguarded,” a statement signed by the assistant director of information, State House, Patience Tilley-Gyado quoted him as saying.
‘‘That’s the reason we decided to do the needful by administering the Oath of Secrecy, highlighting the importance of letting them know what information they are managing and the consequences of the breach of such information.”
Disclosing that the exercise will be continuous, Mr Umar expressed delight that so far the State House has not recorded any breach of information.
‘‘We have not had any breach. We don’t anticipate having any breach.
‘‘But then it’s our duty to let them understand that if there is any, there will be consequences after investigations and that also includes after they have retired from the Civil Service,’’ he said.
Before the administration of the oaths, director of special services department, office of the secretary to the government of the federation Tukur Yahaya took the staff through sensitisation, explaining the essence of the Official Secrets Act, 1962.
