PETITIONS AND APPEALS

SECTION 1- GENERAL

SECTION 2 – PETITION RULES

SECTION 1- GENERAL

Procedure

**11101 **- Every officer who has any representations of a public or private nature to make to the Government should address them to:

  1. The chairman, Abia State Civil Service Commission in respect of matters relating to appointments (including acting A appointments). Promotion, transfer and discipline; OR
  2. The Head of Civil Service of the Abia State on matters relating to other conditions of service, e.g. leave, passages, allowances, pensions, gratuities, etc.

Petition to Head of Government

11102 - Any officer in the State Civil Service may address the ant Governor in which case he must transmit such communication, unsealed and in triplicate to any of the channels mentioned in preceding Rulę requesting that the petition be forwarded in due courses to the Governor. Every letter, or document which may be received by the Governor otherwise than through the proper channel will be no the rule requiring transmission of the writer. returned to communications to the Governor through the appropriate channel is based on the strongest grounds of public convenience, in other that all communications may be duly verified as well as reported on before do they reach the Governor. It extends therefore to communications)! relating to public affairs as well as to the concerns of the writer.

SECTION 2 - PETITION RULES

Definition

11201 - For the purposes of this section a petition is a formal appeal to ultimate authority that is to the Governor for special consideration of a matter affecting an officer personally. It must be distinguished from a letter of representation addressed to an appropriate senior officer of Government in the normal way.

11202 – Petitions by an officer (or by an ex-officer on matters relating to his conditions of employment as an officer or his condition as a pensioner of Government) must be submitted in accordance with the rules set out in this section.

Outside Influence

11203 – An officer must not attempt to bring political or other outside influence to support his individual claims. If he is dissatisfied, his proper course is to make representations to his immediate superior officer or Permanent Secretary/Head of Extra-Ministerial Department. If his representations are not successful, it is open to him to submit a formal petition to the appropriate authority under Rule 11101.

Routing of Petition

11204 - A pension must be submitted through the proper departmental channels, namely through the petitioner's immediate superior officer and the Permanent Secretary/Head of Extra-Ministerial Department, who will forward the petition with his comments and recommendations to the Chairman Abia State Civil Service Commission or the Head of Service of Abia State in accordance with administrative instructions in force at the time. It is in the petitioner's interest that the above-mentioned rule concerning the routing of a petition should be strictly observed in order that the petition will be duly verified and reported on before it reaches the final destination.

Number of Copies

11205 - A petition address to any of the channels mentioned in the preceding Rule must be submitted in duplicate, and an advance copy may be sent direct to the appropriate authority. In either case, one copy will be retained by the Permanent Secretary/Head of Extra- Ministerial Department.

11206 - A petition must bear the full name, staff number, signature and address of the petitioner. When written by a person other than the petitioner, the signature and address of the writer must be included.

Petition Submitted on Behalf of an Illiterate Person

11207 - When a person submits, a petition above his own signature on behalf of an illiterate, the petition should contain a statement that he has been asked to write on behalf of the illiterate.

Disqualification

11208 - (a) A petition which:

  1. does not comply with Rule 11206
  2. deals with a case in which legal action is pending in a Court of Law
  3. is illegible or meaningless,
  4. is anonymous,
  5. is worded in abusive, improper, or foul language, or
  6. merely repeats the substance of a previous petition without introducing new relevant matter, WILL NOT BE ENTERTAINED.

Delay to be Explained

(b) A petition submitted more than six months after decision complained of has been given, will also not be entertained, unless supported by valid reasons for the delay.

Conclusion of Petition

11209 - A petition should conclude stating concisely the nature of the redress sought, and a petition which exceeds in length two pages of foolscap must include a summary of the reasons adduced in support of the redress sought.