Fake agency probe: FG restricts staff movement across MDAs

The Federal Government has imposed stricter controls over the deployment and redeployment of civil servants, instructing Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to cease moving officers from recognised professional pools without obtaining approval from the relevant authorities. This directive, issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), follows the administration's intensified crackdown on fake government agencies, ghost workers, and weaknesses in personnel and institutional control systems.

The OHCSF's circular, dated August 24, 2026, warns that officers assigned to MDAs from recognised professional pools must remain in their designated offices unless their deployment is reviewed and approved by the appropriate authority. The circular, addressed to key personnel including the Chief of Staff to the President and heads of major Federal Government institutions, highlights instances where MDAs disregarded existing rules and moved officers posted to them from professional pools without the necessary approval.

This practice, according to the OHCSF, contravenes previous circulars prohibiting internal redeployment of pool officers within MDAs. The directive comes at a crucial time for the Federal Civil Service following investigations into the creation of faux government bodies and the interaction of these entities with official institutions.

President Bola Tinubu approved a forensic audit on August 28 to examine how fictitious or ineligible personnel were enrolled into government systems and to establish a definitive inventory of all Federal Government entities. The OHCSF circular aims to establish clearer authority over who can deploy, move, and supervise professional officers within the Federal Civil Service, specifying that permanent secretaries can only deploy or redeploy officers from their local staff establishment when their services are needed, while officers posted by the OHCSF or recognised professional pools must adhere to their original posting instructions and seek prior approval for any internal reassignment.