There are wide ranging accusations that public administration in recent time have failed to live up to the expectations of the growing population of Nigerians. This is in view of the persistent cases of under-performance, deepened corruption, lack of professionalism, inertia and general insensitivity to the increasing public service needs and demands of the people. Public administration in the immediate post-colonial era was perceived more disciplined, accountable and responsive and performed better. These concerns have reduced public trust and confidence on public administrators and their capacity for efficient, productive and accountable public services. This article however, acknowledges this high level of dysfunctionality and the implications on service delivery, more especially where there is the collapse of ethics in the public sector. The article is therefore, an attempt to propose for the re-focusing of public administration through ethical culture where unethical standards result in negative consequences. The public sector ethics are a set of standards that guide behaviours of public administrators. Ethical behaviour is therefore, imperative in ensuring that the administrators understand and carry out the business of governance in the most professional, efficient and accountable manner within the scope of public expectations. The paper further suggests ways of deepening and improving ethical behaviour in the country’s public administration for improved service delivery.
Keywords: Ethics, Public Administration, Service delivery
