Federal Civil Service Ends Paper Era, Promotes Efficiency, Saves Cost
Nigeria’s Federal Civil Service has successfully transitioned to a paperless system, with 33 Ministries and 5 Extra-Ministerial Departments (MEMDs) now operating digitally.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, announced this milestone at a news conference in Abuja today, stating that the move will enhance efficient service delivery to citizens and the international community.
With this initiative, she noted, citizens no longer need to send traditional paper letters as a scanned letter via email or correspondence suffices.
“The paperless system. eliminates missing or lost files, providing clearer audit trails and faster response times,” Walson-Jack said. Citizens can track correspondence with MEMDs through the Federal Civil Service Paperless portal.
The HCSF highlighted that the digitalisation drive has also resulted in significant cost savings for the government, with GovMail alone saving billions of Naira annually by reducing dependence on external email subscriptions and licenses, noting that over 100,000 official email accounts have been created for civil servants on the platform already
“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,” Walson-Jack explained
She emphasized that the 38 MEMDs will no longer accept paper submissions through their physical registries, directing that henceforth, all correspondence be sent to the official registry email addresses which can be found on the Office of the Head of the Service of the Federation website
To promote sustainable adoption of digital tools and platforms, she informed that a Service-wide Training-of-Trainers programme for 500 staff will be launched in January 2026, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
The HCSF added that engagements are ongoing with telecommunications providers to make online access more affordable for MEMDs and to enhance the reliability of connectivity needed for digital workflows
The HCSF lauded President Bola Tinubu for creating the enabling environment, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume as well as Ministers for their steadfast support in the digitalization initiative
Walson-Jack also commended partners, including the National Information Technology Development Agency and Galaxy Backbone Limited, for their support in achieving the milestone.
The digitalisation effort is part of the FCSSIP25 reform agenda, aimed at delivering measurable results and driving performance tracking.
