The Federal Government has moved to tighten control over how civil servants are deployed and redeployed across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), warning agencies against reassigning officers from recognised professional pools without clearance from the appropriate posting authorities.
The directive is part of the Tinubu administration’s broader push to crack down on fake government agencies, ghost workers, and gaps in personnel oversight.
It was contained in a circular from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), dated August 24, 2026, and 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 relevant federal institutions.
According to the circular, officers posted to MDAs through recognised professional pools must stay in their assigned offices, departments, or units unless their posting is formally reviewed and approved by the relevant authority.
The Head of Service noted that some MDAs had continued to redeploy pool officers internally without securing the necessary approvals — a practice the circular said breaches an earlier directive issued in January 2025 on the same subject.
Under the new rules, permanent secretaries can only reassign officers who are on their MDA’s own local staff establishment. Officers posted in from the OHCSF or other recognised pools fall under a stricter regime: they must remain exactly where they were posted and cannot be moved internally without prior clearance from the posting authority.
An exception applies to officers on Grade Levels 07 to 14 filling departmental vacancies — they may be shifted within units where gaps exist, but only within their own cadre or pool. Any operational need to alter such postings must still be referred back to the appropriate authority.
The circular also listed the professional pools covered by the directive and their managing authorities, including:
- OHCSF – Administrative Officers, Executive Officers (General), Store Officers, Stock Verifier Officers, Confidential Secretaries, System/Programme Analysts, Statistical/Data Processing Officers, and Library Officers.
- Federal Ministry of Justice – State Counsels, managed by the Solicitor-General/Permanent Secretary.
- Bureau of Public Procurement – Procurement Officers, under the Director-General.
- Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation – Information, Press and Public Relations Officers.
- Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation – Account Officers and Executive Officers (Accounts).
- Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation – Resident Auditors.
Any other officially recognised professional pool remains subject to its own designated managing authority.
The directive reinforces that professional officers posted to MDAs operate under defined administrative structures and cannot be reassigned at the discretion of individual officials — a move seen as part of efforts to restore order and accountability within the federal civil service.
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