The federal government has completed the full digitalisation of its Federal Civil Service, officially bringing an end to paper-based operations across all Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments (MEMDs).
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, announced this at a press conference in Abuja.
She said 33 ministries and five extra-ministerial departments have successfully migrated from manual, file-based processes to a digitally enabled public service.
She said the extra-ministerial departments are the State House (SH), the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF).
The Head of Service said the reform has finally addressed one of the most persistent challenges in the public service including missing, lost or misplaced files.
She said the new digital system has significantly improved efficiency, accountability and the quality of service delivery to citizens.
The Head of Service disclosed that as of December 31, 2025, more than 100,000 official email accounts had been created for public servants on the GovMail platform.
She said with this development, federal civil servants now operate with official government email identities, providing secure, professional and auditable communication across government institutions.
She explained that GovMail is also delivering significant financial savings, as it has reduced the federal government’s dependence on fragmented and costly agency-specific external email subscriptions, saving billions of naira annually while offering better value for money.
To sustain the gains of the reform, the Head of Service announced that her office, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will launch a Service-wide Training-of-Trainers programme in January 2026.
She said 500 master trainers will be trained and deployed to provide hands-on digital skills training to officers across ministries and extra-ministerial departments, ensuring long-term and effective use of the new systems.
She explained that all Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments will no longer accept paper correspondence through physical registries.
She said henceforth, all official submissions must be sent to the designated registry email addresses published on the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation’s website. She said members of the public can also track their correspondence through the Federal Civil Service Paperless Portal.
The Head of Service said the shift to digital operations will deepen transparency, speed up response times and strengthen public trust in government institutions.
She said citizens and the international community would no longer need to rely on physical letters to engage with the Federal Civil Service.
“The days of missing, lost or misplaced files are gone. This system provides clear audit trails, faster response times, and more convenient access to government services for citizens and businesses alike,” she said.
She described the achievement as the culmination of the 2025 “Year of Accomplishment” under the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025 (FCSSIP25), implemented under the theme, “Final Sprint – Delivering Results.”
The Head of Service commended key enabling institutions and partners, particularly the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Galaxy Backbone Limited, for their roles in strengthening implementation capacity and accelerating the deployment of the 1Gov Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform.
She specifically praised Galaxy Backbone, saying its technical and institutional support were critical to the large-scale rollout of the paperless system and to meeting the December 31, 2025, deadline.
