*Photo:Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack(right)*
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack has expressed delight at the attainment of paperless status by the Federal Civil Service, saying the days of missing, lost, or misplaced files are gone.
She spoke on Wednesday in Abuja at a press briefing marking the culmination of the Federal Civil Service’s digitalisation drive and the attainment of the paperless deadline.
Mrs Walson-Jack said “As of the close of business yesterday, Tuesday, the 30th day of December 2025, the Federal Civil Service completed the implementation of the Presidential and administrative directives for Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments (MEMDs) to operate an entirely paperless system.”
Acknowledging the roles played by her predecessors in achieving the milestone, the HCSF said “The journey toward a digitally transformed and paperless Federal Civil Service has been a deliberate and progressive reform effort led by successive Heads of the Civil Service of the Federation, each building firmly on the progress made by their predecessors.”
She said “In simple terms, a paperless Civil Service means that Citizens and the International Community no longer need to send traditional paper letters with envelopes to communicate with the Federal Civil Service. Instead, a scanned letter sent via email or correspondence, with attachments from a personal or organisational email address, to any MEMD would be sufficient.”
She added that “This approach not only provides clearer audit trails of documents and faster response times but also makes accessing government services more convenient, transparent, and trustworthy for citizens and businesses alike. The days of missing, lost, or misplaced files are gone, leading to more efficient service delivery.”
Read her full statement below:
OFFICE OF THE HEAD OF THE CIVIL SERVICE OF THE FEDERATION.
STATEMENT BY THE HEAD OF THE CIVIL SERVICE OF THE FEDERATION, MRS. DIDI ESTHER WALSON-JACK, OON, mni.
NIGERIA’S FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE ACHIEVES MAJOR PAPERLESS MILESTONE!
Transformative Permanent Secretaries,
Distinguished members of the press,
Ladies and gentlemen.
Today, Nigeria marks a decisive milestone in governance. As of the close of business yesterday, Tuesday, the 30th day of December 2025, the Federal Civil Service completed the implementation of the Presidential and administrative directives for Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments (MEMDs) to operate an entirely paperless system.
This milestone, therefore,marks a bold transition from a paper-based legacy bureaucracy to a modern, accountable, and digitally enabled public service.
Simply put, all Ministries in the Federal Civil Service are now paperless!
The journey toward a digitally transformed and paperless Federal Civil Service has been a deliberate and progressive reform effort led by successive Heads of the Civil Service of the Federation, each building firmly on the progress made by their predecessors.
In 2017, under the leadership of Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, NPoM, the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2017–2020 was launched.
For the first time, digitalisation was explicitly recognised as a strategic reform priority. That strategy introduced the concept of an “Enterprise Content Management System,” which signaled a planned shift away from reliance on paper, and laid the groundwork for digitising records, memos, and workflows throughoutthe Service.
This foundation was strengthened under Dr. Folasade YemiEsan, CFR, who advanced digitalisation through the FCSSIP 2021–2025 (FCSSIP25), evolving ECM into a broader “Digitalisation of Content Services” agenda focused on transforming how information flows, decisions are made, work is tracked, and services are delivered.
Since I assumed office as Head of the Civil Service of the Federation in August 2024, delivery has significantly improved. Starting from a point where only three (3) MEMDs had achieved some paperless operations, the Federal Civil Service has now expanded its digital efforts to include thirty-eight (38) MEMDs—comprising thirty-three (33) Ministries and five (5) Extra-Ministerial Departments, including the State House, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Federal Civil Service Commission, and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
As a key part of the paperless policy, the Federal Civil Service achieved a significant breakthrough in official communication by expanding Government Email accounts.
In August 2024, there were fewer than 20,000 official email addresses for civil servants. By today, Wednesday, 31st December 2025, over 100,000 official email accounts have been created for public servants on the GovMail platform.
Now, all Civil Servants have official government email addresses, ensuring they operate with official email identities for secure, professional, and auditable government communication at scale.
This strengthens sovereignty over official correspondence, enhances responsiveness across MDAs, and reduces reliance on unofficial communication channels.
Additionally, GovMail is saving the Federal Government billions of Naira annually by reducing dependence on fragmented, agency-specific external email subscriptions and licenses, delivering better value-for-money.
These outcomes reflect the culmination of declaring 2025 as the “Year of Accomplishment,” under the FCSSIP25 reform agenda, with the delivery theme “Final Sprint – Delivering Results”.
It was a year marked by measurable results, rapid onboarding, enhanced adoption support, and coordinated execution driven through the OHCSF implementation architecture to ensure standardisation, compliance, and sustained performance tracking.
Following the achievement of these milestones, the OHCSF will expandits implementation to all Departments and Agencies while sustaining momentum through post-implementation optimisation, compliance monitoring, cybersecurity enhancement, and further digitisation of workflows.
Importantly, there will be significant capacity-building to institutionalise the ECM process throughout the Service. With the support of 2the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the OHCSF will launch, in January 2026, a Service-wide Training-of-Trainers programme for 500 trainers who will then train officers across Ministries and other MEMDs to promote practical, hands-on, and sustainable adoption.
This capacity building effort will also enhance the effective use of key digital tools and platforms, such as Service-Wise GPT, the Online Compendium of Federal Circulars, GovMail, and various digital transformation systems being implemented across the government, ensuring that every officer can confidently and effectively utilise them.
We continue to sustain structured engagement for providing enabling hardware and devices, and we invite additional partners, public entities, development agencies, and private organisations to support the Federal Government with devices that will speed up adoption across the Service. Our mobile-first approach and the ECM platform’s mobile-friendly design ensure that resources are used efficiently, allowing civil servants to work securely and effectively from anywhere while maintaining governance standards.
In addition, engagements are ongoing with telecommunications providers to make online access more affordable for Ministries and ExtraMinisterial Departments and to enhance the reliability of connectivity needed for digital workflows. At the same time, a sustainable pricing model is being created to keep digitalisation platforms affordable, scalable, and maintainable over the long term, ensuring service continuity and value-formoney for the Government.
To consolidate these gains and end the culture of paper-based bureaucracy, the 38 Federal Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments willno longer accept paper submissions through their physical registries. All correspondence to the MEMDs should now be sent to the official registry email addresses, which can be found on the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation website. Citizens can also now track their correspondence with individual MEMDs through the Federal Civil Service Paperless portal.
In simple terms, a paperless Civil Service means that Citizens and the International Community no longer need to send traditional paper letters with envelopes to communicate with the Federal Civil Service. Instead, a scanned letter sent via email or correspondence, with attachments from a personal or organisational email address, to any MEMD would be sufficient. This approach not only provides clearer audit trails of documents and faster response times but also makes accessing government services more convenient, transparent, and trustworthy for citizens and businesses alike. The days of missing, lost, or misplaced files are gone, leading to more efficient service delivery.
I must, at this point, express deep appreciation to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, whose leadership, dedication and commitment have made this transformation possible, building trust and shared success. I also acknowledge the invaluable coordination and wholeof-government alignment provided by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, CON, which has strengthened implementation across MDAs.
I sincerely appreciate all Honourable Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for their steadfast support of this reform effort, especially their visible leadership and partnership in the digitalisation initiative. Their presence at numerous Go-Live launch events that I personally attended across various MEMDs has been invaluable. This consistent ministerial backing has boosted adoption, enhanced accountability, and drivenwhole-of-government alignment around the paperless agenda.
Special recognition is given to our Digitalisation Champions, especially the Honourable Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, His Excellency,Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, CON, and the Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, for their leadership, advocacy, and support that promoted this initiative.
I commend the Transformative Permanent Secretaries, Directors, my core technical team, members of the Digitalisation War Room, ICT and Registry teams, change champions, and officers across MEMDs for their discipline, professionalism, and resilience in achieving this milestone. I also acknowledge the vital contributions of enabling institutions and strategic partners, including the National Information Technology Development Agency and Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB), whose institutional support 4enhanced implementation capacity and accelerated results in the 1Gov ECM rollout. GBB’s support was essential to reaching this milestone. GBB made the 1Gov ECM rollout feasible at scale and guaranteed delivery by the December 31, 2025 deadline.
On behalf of the Federal Civil Service, we sincerely thank you, members of the media, for your invaluable support over the past year. You have served as a vital bridge between the Service and citizens, ensuring that accurate information is shared and that the voices of the people are heard. Through your reports, articles, editorials, and ongoing engagement, you have provided constructive feedback that has guided our efforts toward greater transparency, accountability, and improved service. Your dedication to informing the public with integrity has helped rebuild trust in the Federal Civil Service as an institution and increase awareness of its reforms.
In conclusion, I want to emphasise that this digitalisation reform aligns with Nigeria’s national development priorities and international best practices, focusing on speed, integrity, transparency, institutional memory, and trust. The milestone we have reached reaffirms the Federal Government’s commitment to building a modern, accountable, and performance-driven institution that is fit for purpose, responsive to citizens’ expectations, and compliant with global standards.Thank you for your attendance, and Happy New Year in advance.
Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, OON, mni
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation
31st December 2025