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With the 2027 General elections fast approaching, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, has warned of sanctions for Civil servants that become involved in political activities while still in service.
According to her, existing Supreme Court judgement on the matter only allowed them to be card carrying member of a political party in order not to infringe on their fundamental rights of free association.
She pointed out that the same judgement advised Civil Service to first and foremost abide by the rules of the Civil Service.
Mrs. Walson-Jack spoke in Abuja on Friday during the interactive session of the Quarterly Stakeholders And Citizens Engagement.
Answering question from the Head of the Civil Service of Zamfara State on trending Supreme Court judgement, Mrs Walson-Jack said "It's an old judgment, and it is still very much in force. But what that judgment said was that civil servants can be card carrying members of a political party, but the judgment went on quickly to say that allowing civil servants to be card carrying members is just so that their right, their fundamental human right of association, is not denied them.
"It went on to caution that any civil servant should know that you have terms and conditions of service and that you need to abide by the terms and conditions of your service.
"And we all know that a Civil servant is supposed to be non political. So you have to balance it.
"So your first responsibility is to be neutral, non political, and do your job, because I know that that judgment has been trending, and many Civil Servants are anxious to know what it is.
"So understand it. You cannot go and be partisan. You cannot be partisan. You serve the government of the day with neutrality. Anything contrary will be dealt with in accordance with the rules and regulations of the public service." she warned.
Before the interactive session, the HCSF took time to reel out the achievements in the Federal Civil Service since she assumed office a year ago.
While disclosing that 34,100 federal civil servants now have official GovMail email addresses, among other digital reforms in the last one year, the HCSF maintained that the December 2025 deadline for digitization of the Federal civil service is still on course.
Speaking on Digitalisation and E-Government, she said "We are rapidly digitalising our operations
to create a smarter and more transparent government. To date, over 34,100 federal civil servants now have official GovMail email addresses, enabling more secure and efficient communication across government.
"The OHCSF is currently migrating its records and services to the 1-GOV cloud platform powered by Galaxy Backbone, as part of the Nigeria First Initiative in IT. This provides a secure, cost-effective, and integrated solution that
preserves our national data sovereignty and enables different government
systems to interoperate seamlessly.
"In line with our goal, we are on track to achieve full digitalisation of core processes by 31st December 2025. What does this mean for the average citizen? It means faster service delivery,
fewer lost files, more transparency, and eventually the ability to access
more government services online with ease."
She also said that the Federal Civil Service is embarking on comprehensive audit across the country.
"Institutionalising the Right Personnel: With Mr. President’s approval, we are embarking on a comprehensive Personnel Audit and Skills Gap Analysis
across the federal civil service.
"It will identify skill gaps, redundancies, and needs, enabling us to recruit or retrain where necessary.
"President Tinubu himself reiterated at the
ICSC 2025 the importance of this audit and urged all stakeholders to
prioritise its timely completion.
"The data gathered will inform strategic decisions to build a high-performing, agile, and responsive Civil Service for Nigeria." Mrs Walson-Jack said.
The stakeholders and citizens engagement, she pointed out, is one of the most powerful tools for driving the ongoing transformation process in the Civil Service.
Thanking President Bola Tinubu for the support to the Federal Civil Service, the HCSF assured that the Federal Civil Service will continue to identify outstanding staff and honour them.
According to her, there is now shift in public perception of the service as Nigerians are now more receptive to the service.
Also thanking the Civil servants for their resilience, dedication and openness on the change drive in the last twelve months, she urged them to redouble their efforts in the pursuit of the goals and to serve the public better.
"If we each play our part and continue to collaborate, there is no limit to what we can achieve together." she stated
Many individuals, at the occasion, also gave goodwill messages, highlighting the reforms in the service in last one year.
In her welcome address earlier, Dr Deborah Odoh, Permanent Secretary, Service Policies And Strategies, in the OHCSF, noted that the gathering is not just an event, but a convergence of minds, experience and commitments towards a singular goal: Building a world-class service that delivers value-driven, people-centered and innovation led governance.
"Together as one community of service in federal and states, we are united by a common mission” to build a Civil Service that works better, serves better, delivers better and worthy of our nation’s aspirations.
"In recent years the Federal Civil Service has witnessed significant progress and the last 12 months in particular have been filled with impactful achievements under the leadership of the current Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack."
The engagement, she said, underscored the principle that, effective governance thrives on collaboration, transparency and active citizen’s participation.
Mallam Ladan Gobir of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, said Mrs Walson-Jack has shown that transformation is not just about structures, but the people.
"When people come first, progress always follows" he said