Federal Civil Service Goes Paperless, Completes Digital Transformation Milestone

In a historic announcement set to redefine public administration in Nigeria, the federal government through the head of Federal Civil Service of Nigeria has announced the complete digital transformation of the civil service.

The civil service head, Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, disclosed on Wednesday that the federal bureaucracy had transitioned to a fully paperless system, effective from January 1, 2026.

“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 to operate an entirely paperless system,” she said.

She described the achievement as 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,” she said.

Walson-Jack detailed that the foundational strategy was laid in 2017 under her predecessor, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, with the launch of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP) 2017–2020.

“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 throughout the Service,” she explained.

According to her, the baton was passed to Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, who advanced the agenda through the FCSSIP 2021–2025, broadening it into a “Digitalisation of Content Services” initiative.

She said that upon assuming office in August 2024, she accelerated the process, declaring 2025 the “Year of Accomplishment” under the theme “Final Sprint – Delivering Results.

“The outcome was staggering: paperless operations expanded from only three Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments (MEMDs) to all 38, including critical institutions like the State House and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,” she said.

A cornerstone of this success, she said, is the massive deployment of a unified Government Email (GovMail) system.

The head of Service revealed a quantum leap from fewer than 20,000 official email addresses in August 2024 to over 100,000 created by December 31, 2025.

“Now, all Civil Servants have official government email addresses. GovMail is saving the federal government billions of Naira annually by reducing dependence on fragmented, agency-specific external email subscriptions and licenses,” she stated.

She directed that the 38 Federal Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments will no longer accept paper submissions through their physical registries.

Walson-Jack said all correspondence must now be routed via official registry email addresses listed on the OHCSF website, with a new ‘Federal Civil Service Paperless Portal’ for citizens to track their communications.

Explaining the profound implications for citizens and businesses, 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. The days of missing, lost, or misplaced files are gone, leading to more efficient service delivery.”

She announced that, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a massive Training-of-Trainers programme for 500 officers will launch in January 2026 to institutionalize the new systems.