Brief History

The Chartered Institute of Certified Secretaries & Reporters of Nigeria was founded in March 1981 and incorporated under Nigerian Companies and Allied Matters (CAM) Act 1 of 1990 with the consent of the Attorney-General of the Federation in 1994 as a non-profit making professional body limited by guarantee.

In the quest to obtain added legal impetus to be able to carry out the functions of setting standard and regulating the practice of the profession, the Institute, with the support of the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation as National Patron and Supervisory Office, submitted request for an Act of the National Assembly in October 2000.

The Bill was duly gazette but could not be concluded by 2003. Subsequently HB 43 was further gazette in 2003 which went through due legislative processes including a public hearing in July 2004.

The two chambers of the National Assembly, after all due processes and rigorous legislative procedures, successfully passed the Bill and harmonized versions in February 2007 to enact the Act No. 16 of 2015, which ultimately established the Chartered Institute of Certified Secretaries & Reporters of Nigeria. The Institute is responsible for regulating Office Technology and Management studies and professional practice in Nigeria.

The Act makes it illegal to practice the profession as stipulated either privately or by employment for remuneration without membership registration with the Institute; an offence punishable on conviction by imprisonment.

Code of Conduct

1. Defined: The certified secretary or official reporter is a professionally trained and qualified information technologist with mastery of modern office and administrative management processes and intuition for instantaneous comprehension of ideas and issues in human and organization behaviors.

• Pedigree: The professional certified secretary and reporter will uphold the most ethical process of recording and providing information only in the overall interest of the nation and his/her employer with confidence and reliability in good service to mankind.

• The professional certified secretary and reporter will seek to find and employ the more efficient and most economical ways of getting things done.

• Ethic and Integrity: All information provided by a professional certified secretary and reporter must be seen and accepted within the scope of human abilities to be most scrupulous and transparently honest to assist fair judgment in all decisions.

• The professional certified secretary and reporter shall within his/her scope of authority, treat all persons as being equal, be free from any fraudulent and/or corrupt practices and shall not knowingly abet fraud and/or corruption by his/her superior and/or subordinates.

• To the very best of his/her ability, will endeavor at all times to guide against misdirection and falsehood in the documentation and dissemination of information. 

• The professional certified secretary and reporter in public or private practice shall discharge his/her duties with self-confidence, reliability, integrity, dependability, honesty, efficiency, confidentiality, without fear of intimidation or favor in service to the organization and humanity at large and shall refuse to give undue special favors or privileges to anyone.

• That the secretary or verbatim reporter shall not reveal, leak or release privileged information at his/her disposal for unauthorized usage.

• Penalty for Default: The Ethics and Disciplinary body of the Institute shall investigate allegation of subversion and professional misconduct or disregard to the regulations of the Institute and recommend appropriate action to the highest Governing Body of the Institute for the time being for consideration and ratification through due processes in accordance with existing bye-laws and such other regulations established necessary for proper control, sanction and or redress of ethical defaults.

• The professional member accepts the supreme authority of the Institute in all matters affecting membership, ethics and codes of conduct.

Vision

To be a pacesetter in promoting excellence in secretarial and official reporters’ practice with skillful innovation in office technology and management services for organizational effectiveness.

Mission

To have an established professional body capable of harnessing our manpower resources and potentials in developing today’s office technology managers for tomorrow’s higher responsibilities through a formidably organized group that can serve as a professional mouthpiece for ensuring regulated standards and excellence in practice.

Be a role model in creating superior values

Core Values

1.        Building confidence and reliability in service to humanity.

2.        Promoting and upholding the ethical process of recording and providing information in the overall interest of employers in particular and the nation in general.

3.        Ensuring well trained and qualified information technologists and behavioral psychologists with mastery of modern office administrative management processes.

4.        Seeking the model highest ethical standards for best results.

5.        Total accountability, professionalism, transparency, integrity and honest of purpose.

6.        Managing the office professionally to achieve global best practices and results in organizational goals.