The Federal Government has tightened its control over the deployment and redeployment of civil servants, directing Ministries, Departments and Agencies to stop moving officers from recognised professional pools without approval from the appropriate authorities.
The directive, issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, is aimed at curbing unauthorised staff movements and strengthening administrative control across the Federal Civil Service.
The circular warned that officers posted to ministries, departments and agencies from recognised professional pools must remain in their approved offices, departments, divisions, units or sections unless their deployment is reviewed and approved by the relevant posting authority.
The directive was addressed to the Chief of Staff to the President, ministers, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, permanent secretaries, service chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police and heads of major Federal Government institutions and agencies.
The OHCSF said it had observed that some MDAs were violating existing rules by redeploying officers posted to them from professional pools without obtaining approval from the authorities responsible for their postings.
It said the practice contravened an earlier circular issued on January 2, 2025, which prohibited the internal redeployment of pool officers within MDAs without due approval.
Under the latest directive, permanent secretaries may deploy or redeploy officers on the local staff establishment of their respective MDAs to areas where their services are required for effective service delivery.
However, officers posted to an MDA by the OHCSF or another recognised professional pool are subject to separate rules.
The circular stated that such officers must remain in the offices, departments, divisions, units or sections to which they were specifically posted in accordance with their posting instructions.
It added that they could not be internally redeployed without prior approval from the relevant posting authority.
The OHCSF, however, made an exception for officers on Grade Levels 07 to 14 posted to fill departmental vacancies.
Such officers may be deployed internally to divisions, units or sections where vacancies exist, provided the deployment remains within the scope of their respective cadres or professional pools.
The circular further directed that where operational exigencies require a change in an officer’s posting, the matter must be referred to the appropriate posting authority for review and approval.
The OHCSF ended the directive with an instruction to all affected authorities to ensure strict compliance.
The recognised professional pools include Administrative Officers, Executive Officers, Store Officers, Stock Verifier Officers, Confidential Secretaries, System/Programme Analysts, Statistical/Data Processing Officers and Library Officers.
These officers are managed by the Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office of the OHCSF.
Other professional pools are managed by their respective institutions. They include State Counsels under the Federal Ministry of Justice, Procurement Officers under the Bureau of Public Procurement and Information, Press and Public Relations Officers under the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation manages Account Officers and Executive Officers (Accounts), while the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation oversees Resident Auditors.
The directive comes amid renewed efforts by the administration of President Bola Tinubu to address weaknesses in personnel management and the proliferation of purported government agencies.
On August 28, the President approved a comprehensive forensic audit of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, Federal Government agencies, ministries and their internal control systems.
The Presidency said the audit followed a resolution of the Federal Executive Council on findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission concerning fake agencies, ghost workers and other control failures.
The exercise is expected to scrutinise how fictitious or ineligible persons were enrolled on government payroll systems and examine identity, biometric and bank-account controls.
It will also establish a definitive inventory of Federal Government agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals and other bodies while verifying their legal status and how they obtained official recognition, budgetary consideration, office facilities and access to government systems.
The development has heightened the significance of the latest OHCSF directive, particularly its emphasis on recognised professional pools, approved establishments and authorised posting authorities.
The government has also been investigating cases involving purported federal agencies.
In July, President Tinubu directed the ICPC to investigate the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council after the Presidency said the body was fictitious and had never been established by the Federal Government.
The ICPC subsequently said its investigation showed that the organisation had no legal basis and that an appointment letter allegedly used by its promoter was forged.
On August 21, the commission announced the discovery of another purported federal agency, the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office.
The commission alleged that the organisation was promoted by George Nwabueze, with the suspected involvement of some senior public servants in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
President Tinubu subsequently ordered the promoter’s arrest and the suspension of three permanent secretaries in the OSGF.
Against this backdrop, the OHCSF directive is aimed at strengthening administrative control over the movement of professional officers within the Federal Civil Service.
The directive also seeks to ensure that the deployment of such officers remains traceable to authorised authorities and that civil servants are not moved into unauthorised establishments through informal administrative arrangements.
The Presidency said the broader forensic audit would identify systemic weaknesses and determine whether they resulted from system defects, process failures, inadequate segregation of duties or deliberate circumvention.
It said the exercise was intended to strengthen government systems, close institutional loopholes, improve data verification and reconciliation, reinforce accountability and ensure that only duly constituted entities and eligible personnel have access to government resources.