By Ado Oyeyemi
The Federal Government has tightened restrictions on the movement of civil servants across Ministries, Departments and Agencies as part of measures to strengthen personnel control and curb abuses within the public service.
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation directed MDAs to stop redeploying officers posted to them from recognised professional pools without obtaining approval from the authorities responsible for their postings.
The directive was contained in a circular dated August 24, 2026, with reference number HCSF/3065/V.I/275, issued as the administration of President Bola Tinubu intensifies efforts to uncover fake government agencies, ghost workers and other weaknesses in the management of public institutions.
The circular was addressed to ministers, permanent secretaries, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Chief of Staff to the President, service chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police and heads of major Federal Government institutions.
The OHCSF said it had discovered that some MDAs were moving officers assigned to them from professional pools without the approval of the relevant authorities.
It described the practice as a violation of an earlier directive issued on January 2, 2025, prohibiting the internal redeployment of officers belonging to recognised professional pools.
The latest order provides that officers posted to an MDA by the OHCSF or another recognised professional pool must remain in the office, department, division, unit or section specified in their posting instructions unless the appropriate authority approves a change.
The Head of Service’s office said permanent secretaries could deploy or redeploy officers on their respective MDAs’ local staff establishments where their services were required.
However, officers assigned through recognised professional pools would remain subject to the authority of the bodies responsible for those pools.
The circular made an exception for officers on Grade Levels 07 to 14 posted to fill vacancies in departments, allowing them to be deployed internally to divisions, units or sections where vacancies existed, provided such movements remained within their approved cadres or pools.
It added that where operational circumstances required a change in posting, the matter must be referred to the relevant authority for consideration and approval.
The directive ended with an instruction to all affected institutions to ensure strict compliance.
The move comes against the backdrop of the Federal Government’s ongoing investigation into purported government agencies and weaknesses in the country’s public service administration.
President Tinubu had on August 28 approved a comprehensive forensic audit of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, Federal Government agencies, ministries and their internal control mechanisms.
The audit followed a resolution of the Federal Executive Council on August 19 based on findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission concerning alleged fake agencies, ghost workers and other institutional control failures.
The exercise is expected to determine how fictitious or ineligible persons gained access to government payroll and other official systems, while examining identity, biometric and bank account controls.
It will also produce a definitive list of Federal Government ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other institutions, while verifying their legal foundations and how they secured government recognition, budgetary provisions, office accommodation and access to official systems.
The development has heightened attention on the authority responsible for deploying and supervising professional officers across the Federal Civil Service.
Among the recognised professional pools managed through the OHCSF are Administrative Officers, Executive Officers, Store Officers, Stock Verifier Officers, Confidential Secretaries, System and Programme Analysts, Statistical and Data Processing Officers and Library Officers.
Other professional pools are managed by relevant institutions, including the Federal Ministry of Justice for State Counsels, the Bureau of Public Procurement for Procurement Officers and the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation for Information, Press and Public Relations Officers.
The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation manages Account Officers and Executive Officers in the Accounts cadre, while the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation oversees Resident Auditors.
The Federal Government’s renewed focus on personnel and institutional controls follows a series of discoveries involving purported government bodies.
In July, the President ordered an investigation into the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council after the Presidency declared that the organisation was not established by the Federal Government.
The subsequent ICPC investigation reportedly found that the purported council lacked legal backing and that an appointment letter used by its promoter was forged.
On August 21, the anti-corruption commission announced the discovery of another purported federal agency, the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office.
The ICPC alleged that the organisation was promoted by George Nwabueze, with suspected involvement of senior public servants in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Following the development, the President ordered Nwabueze’s arrest and approved the suspension of three permanent secretaries in the OSGF.
The revelations have raised concerns over how unauthorised organisations could gain access to government facilities, correspondence channels, official systems, budgetary processes and personnel.
The ongoing forensic audit is therefore expected to examine the systemic weaknesses that may have allowed such activities to occur.
According to the Presidency, the exercise will also examine the links between IPPIS and other government financial platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, Remita, the Treasury Single Account and the Sub-Treasury Single Account.
It will seek to determine whether the weaknesses arose from system defects, administrative failures, poor segregation of duties or deliberate attempts to circumvent established procedures.
The Federal Government said the audit would help strengthen government structures, close loopholes, improve verification and reconciliation of official data, and ensure that only legally recognised institutions and eligible personnel have access to government resources.
Against this background, the OHCSF directive is expected to provide greater accountability in the deployment of professional officers by ensuring that any movement outside an approved posting is traceable to an authorised decision.
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The measure also places greater responsibility on permanent secretaries and heads of MDAs to prevent arbitrary transfers and ensure compliance with established posting procedures.
