The Federal Government has tightened controls over the deployment and redeployment of civil servants, directing Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to stop moving officers from recognised professional pools without approval from the authorities responsible for their postings.
The directive was issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) as the administration of President Bola Tinubu intensifies efforts to tackle fake government agencies, ghost workers and weaknesses in the Federal Government’s personnel and institutional control systems.
In a circular dated 24 August 2026 and referenced HCSF/3065/V.I/275, the OHCSF warned that officers posted to MDAs from recognised professional pools must remain in their designated offices, departments, divisions, units or sections unless their deployment is reviewed and approved by the relevant authority.
The circular was 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 major federal institutions and agencies.
The OHCSF said it had observed that some MDAs were disregarding existing rules by internally redeploying officers posted to them from professional pools without obtaining the necessary approval.
“The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has observed that some Ministries, Extra-Ministerial Departments and Agencies have continued to redeploy officers posted to them from the professional pools of the OHCSF and other recognised pool offices without the approval of the relevant posting authorities,” the circular stated.
It said the practice contravened an earlier OHCSF circular, dated 2 January 2025, which prohibited the internal redeployment of pool officers within MDAs without authorisation.
Under the latest directive, permanent secretaries may deploy or redeploy officers on the local staff establishment of their respective MDAs to areas where their services are required for effective service delivery.
However, officers posted to an MDA by the OHCSF or another recognised professional pool are subject to separate rules.
“Officers posted to Ministries, Extra-Ministerial Departments and Agencies by the OHCSF or any other recognised professional pool shall remain in the offices, departments, divisions, units or sections to which they were specifically posted, in accordance with their posting instructions,” the circular stated.
“Such officers shall not be redeployed internally without the prior approval of the relevant posting authority,” it added.
The OHCSF made an exception for officers on Grade Levels 07 to 14 who are posted to fill vacancies in departments.
Such officers may be deployed internally to divisions, units or sections where vacancies exist, provided the deployment remains within the scope of their respective professional pools or cadres.
The circular also outlined the procedure to be followed where operational circumstances require a change in an officer’s posting.
“Where operational exigencies necessitate any review of such postings, the matter shall be referred to the appropriate posting authority for review and necessary approval,” it stated.
The directive ended with an instruction to all affected authorities to ensure “strict compliance”.
Recognised professional pools
The circular listed several professional pools and the authorities responsible for managing them.
The OHCSF manages cadres including Administrative Officers, Executive Officers (General), Store Officers, Stock Verifier Officers, Confidential Secretaries, System/Programme Analysts, Statistical/Data Processing Officers and Library Officers through the Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office.
At the Federal Ministry of Justice, the recognised pool consists of State Counsels, managed by the Solicitor-General/Permanent Secretary.
The Bureau of Public Procurement is responsible for the professional pool of Procurement Officers, while the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation manages Information, Press and Public Relations Officers.
The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation manages Account Officers and Executive Officers (Accounts), while the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation manages Resident Auditors.
The circular also recognised other duly established professional pool offices and their respective managing authorities.
The detailed framework reinforces the principle that professional officers posted to MDAs are subject to defined administrative structures and cannot be moved from one establishment to another at the discretion of individual officials.
Directive follows fake-agency investigations
The latest directive comes amid heightened scrutiny of the Federal Government’s personnel and institutional management systems following investigations into purported government bodies that allegedly operated with the appearance of official recognition.
On 28 August, President Tinubu approved a comprehensive forensic audit of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), federal agencies and ministries, as well as their internal control mechanisms.
The Presidency said the exercise followed a 19 August Federal Executive Council resolution based on findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) concerning fake agencies, ghost workers and other control failures.
The audit is expected to examine how fictitious or ineligible individuals were enrolled on government systems, including identity, biometric and bank-account controls.
It will also establish a definitive inventory of federal agencies, departments, commissions, councils, parastatals and other government bodies, while verifying their legal foundations and how they obtained official recognition, budgetary consideration, office facilities and access to government systems.
The development has heightened the significance of the OHCSF directive, which seeks to establish a clearer chain of authority over the deployment, movement and supervision of professional officers across the Federal Civil Service.
The Federal Government’s concerns over institutional controls were brought into sharper focus in July when President Tinubu directed the ICPC to investigate the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council after the Presidency said the organisation was fictitious and had never been established by the Federal Government.
The ICPC subsequently found that the purported council had no legal basis and that an appointment letter used by its promoter was forged.
The controversy widened on 21 August when the ICPC announced the discovery of another purported federal agency, the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office.
The commission alleged that the organisation was promoted by George Nwabueze, with the suspected involvement of senior public servants in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
President Tinubu subsequently ordered the promoter’s arrest and the suspension of three permanent secretaries in the OSGF.
The cases have raised questions about how purported agencies can obtain office accommodation, official correspondence privileges, budgetary recognition, access to government systems and potentially personnel.
The forensic audit is therefore expected to examine systemic weaknesses in addition to individual cases.
According to the Presidency, the exercise will scrutinise the interfaces between IPPIS and other government platforms, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, Remita, the Treasury Single Account and the Sub-Treasury Single Account.
It will also determine whether identified weaknesses resulted from system defects, process failures, inadequate segregation of duties or deliberate circumvention.
The Presidency said the audit would help to “strengthen the architecture of Government, close systemic loopholes, improve data verification and reconciliation, reinforce accountability, and ensure that only duly constituted entities and eligible personnel have access to Government resources”.
Against this backdrop, the OHCSF circular introduces another layer of administrative control by requiring that the movement of professional pool officers be traceable to an authorised posting authority.
It places responsibility on permanent secretaries and heads of MDAs to ensure that officers are not arbitrarily moved away from their approved postings.
Although the circular does not expressly link the directive to the investigations into purported government agencies, its emphasis on recognised professional pools, approved establishments, authorised posting authorities and strict compliance comes as the Federal Government seeks to address institutional weaknesses exposed by the recent cases.
The directive effectively seeks to prevent civil servants from being moved into unauthorised establishments through informal administrative arrangements, while reinforcing the authority of professional pool managers over the deployment of officers under their supervision.
