Nigeria's Federal Civil Service has completed a major phase of its digital transformation, with over 100,000 official GovMail accounts created across the country, as all key federal ministries and extra-ministerial departments transition to completely paperless operations by the December 31 deadline.
The milestone, achieved on December 30, is one of the most far-reaching administrative reforms in the history of the federal public service, effectively ending decades of paper-based communication across 33 ministries and five extra-ministerial departments (MEMDs).
Announcing the development, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Valson-Jack, said the creation of GovMail accounts was central to enabling secure, auditable and efficient government communications under the new system.
“Over 100,000 official GovMail accounts have now been issued to civil servants across the federation. This ensures secure, traceable communications, while saving billions of naira previously spent on paper, printing, storage and manual processing,” Walson-Jack said.
Under the new framework, all official correspondence within the federal civil service is conducted digitally through approved platforms, with physical submissions no longer accepted by the 38 ministries and MEMDs working on an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system.
According to Walson-Jack, citizens and businesses can now connect with federal ministries through completely digital channels, submit documents through official registry email addresses and track progress through the Federal Civil Service Paperless Portal.
“This guarantees faster response times, clear audit trails and greater transparency in government transactions,” she said.
The paperless transformation builds on reforms initiated in 2017 under former service heads, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita and Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, who introduced the ECM platform and laid the foundation for large-scale digitalization. However, the program significantly accelerated under Walson-Jack's leadership, expanding paperless operations from just three MEMDs in August 2024 to 38 by the end of 2025.
A statement titled “December 31 deadline: Federal civil service achieves paperless milestone as 38 ministries and extra-ministerial departments go digital” shared on Wednesday revealed that the transformation was completed before the official deadline.
Walson-Jack credited President Bola Tinubu for providing political leadership that enabled the reforms and commended ministers, permanent secretaries and technical teams for implementation across government.
He also highlighted the role of Galaxy Backbone Limited in delivering the project, and described its institutional support as critical to the successful rollout of the 1Gov enterprise content management system at scale. National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and other strategic partners were equally acknowledged for strengthening the implementation capacity in the ministries and MEMD.
Looking ahead, the service chief said a service-wide train-the-trainer programme, delivered in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), will commence in January 2026.
This initiative will train 500 officers on key digital tools including service-wise GPT, GovMail and online collection of federal circulars to ensure continued adoption of the paperless system.
Walson-Jack disclosed the development during the Plenary Session of the 47th National Establishment Council held in Kano from December 1 to 5, reiterating the government's commitment to strengthening a fully digital federal civil service.
