Fear of career reprisals threatens good governance – Boss Mustapha.
Mustapha said officers who feared that speaking frankly could jeopardise their careers might resort to telling leaders what they wanted to […] Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, has warned that fear of career reprisals can prevent civil servants from giving honest advice to political leaders, potentially exposing them to costly mistakes.
“Where officers fear that honest advice will cost them their careers, they may offer comfortable advice instead.
A service that cannot speak truth to power cannot protect power from its own mistakes,” he said.
He spoke on Wednesday in Abuja while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 colloquium of the Council of Retired Federal Permanent Secretaries and Heads of the Civil Service of the Federation (CORFEPS), themed “Navigating the Headwinds of Governance: Centrality of the Civil Service”. Mustapha, who served as SGF from 2017 to 2023, said the strength of the civil service lay not in agreeing with political authorities but in its ability to provide candid advice, implement lawful decisions and account transparently for results. He said professional independence was essential to effective governance, stressing that civil servants should be able to identify risks, present evidence and explain the likely costs and consequences of policy choices without fear. Vice President Kashim Shettima, who opened the colloquium, also highlighted the need for a constructive relationship between political leaders and career civil servants.
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