Fed Gov’t sets Dec. 2025 for Civil Service full digitalization

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, has assured that Nigeria’s civil service will achieve full digitalisation by December 31, 2025.

She gave this assurance in Abuja on Wednesday during an interactive session with journalists at the World Press Conference organised to mark the 2025 African Public Service Day and Civil Service Week.

According to Walson-Jack, no fewer than 11 federal ministries have already completely switched to paperless operations, with several others at various stages of transition.

“At the start of this year, we realised that our strategy plan ends precisely on December 31, 2025, so we decided to accelerate the implementation of all pillars of reform in that plan. One of the key pillars is digitalisation,” she explained.

She noted that directives have been issued to all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to adopt paperless operations, stating that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation itself had already embraced full digitalisation before her appointment.

Walson-Jack confirmed that last week, she launched the Enterprise Content Management System at the Federal Ministry of Health, making it the 11th ministry to fully adopt digital processes. While acknowledging challenges such as funding constraints, she added that development partners have stepped in to support the process.

She said the move towards digitalisation is not just about eliminating paper but involves automating workflows and operational processes for efficiency and better service delivery. “In my first 100 days, we launched several digital platforms aimed at supporting this transformation,” she said.

The HCSF also revealed that 600 civil servants are already undergoing digital literacy training, with capacity building in Artificial Intelligence (AI) ongoing. Additionally, over 31,000 civil servants now use official government emails, driven by dedicated digital task teams known as “war rooms.”

On international partnerships, she spoke about a recent benchmarking tour to Singapore involving federal and state civil service leaders, which she said is already influencing reforms across state services.

She further announced that over 5,000 delegates are expected in Abuja for this year’s African Public Service Day and Civil Service Week scheduled for June 20 to June 28, 2025. President Bola Tinubu is expected to officially declare the event open.

African Public Service Day, adopted in 1994 at a Pan-African Conference of Ministers in Tangier, Morocco, is marked annually on June 23 to promote professional excellence, innovation, and public service values across the continent.