By Dr. E. F. Egbere
The recent directive issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), requiring retired Permanent Secretaries to report physically at designated centres nationwide for a verification exercise, raises serious concern. At a time when public administration globally is shifting towards secure digital platforms, this insistence on physical appearance is regressive, unnecessary, and disrespectful to those who have served Nigeria at the highest levels of its bureaucracy.
According to the notice, retired Permanent Secretaries are expected to appear in Abuja (13–14 November), Lagos (12–14 November), Kaduna (13 November) and Maiduguri (17 November), with additional dates pending for Ilorin, Enugu, and Calabar. They are to provide information such as NIN, phone number, email address, state of origin, local government, residential address, next-of-kin details, date of appointment, and date of retirement.
The question is: Why must such data collection require elderly Nigerians to travel, queue, and risk their health, when the same information can be securely submitted digitally?
Dignity Must Be Central
Retired Permanent Secretaries are often advanced in age, with many experiencing mobility challenges or managing chronic health conditions. Some reside outside Nigeria. Compelling them to appear in person is not merely an inconvenience—it is a direct affront to the dignity of individuals who devoted the most productive years of their lives to national service.
Nigeria has witnessed tragic consequences from similar exercises in the past, where elderly pensioners collapsed or died while attempting to fulfil physical verification requirements. We cannot continue to repeat mistakes when alternatives are available.
Digital Alternatives Already Exist
Crucially, the federal government has already demonstrated that digital verification is possible through the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) “I Am Alive” confirmation system, accessible via smartphone or computer. This platform allows pensioners to verify their status remotely using biometric capture, requiring no physical presence.
PTAD additionally introduced a mobile version of the platform so that those who are unwell, disabled, or living far away can verify without physical attendance.
If pensioners nationwide can confirm their status digitally, what logic underpins compelling retired Permanent Secretaries—arguably the most digitally documented cohort in Nigeria’s public system—to show up in person?
There is simply no administrative justification for such an analogue approach to a fully digital-ready demographic.
Heightened Risk of Abuse
Large-scale, in-person verification exercises involving the elderly have historically opened the door to rent-seeking behaviour, coercion, or informal fees often extracted by unscrupulous officials and intermediaries. The decision to ignore proven digital options invites speculation—at best, of outdated thinking; at worst, of self-serving interests.
Transparency demands that we avoid practices that could enable exploitation of vulnerable retirees.
A More Efficient, More Honourable Path Forward
The OHCSF should urgently:
• Suspend the proposed physical verification exercise for retired Permanent Secretaries.
• Adopt a digital verification model, preferably leveraging the proven PTAD “I Am Alive” system.
• Provide clear guidance and technical support to retirees, including a help desk.
• Guarantee zero cost to participants—no travel requirement, no intermediaries.
• Offer exceptions only for those without digital access, using controlled alternatives such as home-based verification or embassy-assisted confirmation.
• Ensure transparency via a public audit trail of the verification process.
This approach would protect retirees’ dignity, safeguard their health, reduce administrative costs, and improve efficiency.
Beyond Verification: A Test of Values
This conversation goes beyond data capture. It speaks to who we are as a nation and what values guide our public institutions. Retired Permanent Secretaries deserve a public service model that recognises their contribution, respects their age, and honours their service.
Implementing digital verification is not merely a technological shift—it is a reaffirmation that Nigeria values its statesmen and women, and is committed to modern governance rooted in dignity, transparency, and efficiency.
The OHCSF must reconsider. The nation is watching.
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Dr. E. F. Egbere is an Economic Development and Public Sector Analyst residing in Abuja.
