The Role of Sanctions in Enhancing Operational Efficiency in Federal Secretariat, Oyo State, Nigeria

Developing countries have undertaken public sector reforms to enhance public institutions' operational efficiency. Accountability mechanisms, including implementing sanctions, have been incorporated into these reform programmes. The underlying assumption behind using sanctions is that public officials responsible for these services will adhere to the prescribed standards and rules. This paper examines the effectiveness of sanctions in driving work processes within the public sector, focusing on the assumption that superiors utilise sanctions to ensure subordinates fulfil their assigned tasks. Guided by the process management model, data was collected through close-ended questionnaires from a purposively selected group of public officials to determine the efficacy of sanctions in practice. This study's findings indicate that currently implemented sanctions are ineffective in driving work processes within the public sector. It concludes that while sanctions should not be discarded, there is a need to understand the context in which their application would be effective.