Nigeria: Tinubu Orders Civil Service To End Manual Processes
By Ebi Kesiena
At the opening of the International Civil Service Conference 2026, President Bola Tinubu directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to end
all manual process and fully embrace digitisation.
Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, the President said the public service under his Renewed Hope Agenda was shifting from policies to results.
According to him the era of manual inefficiency in Nigeria’s public service must come to an end to repositioning the Civil Service to deliver faster, transparent and citizen-focused services.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, disclosed that the government’s AI-powered Service Wise GPT platform, designed to help civil servants with their jobs, has already recorded over 50,000 interactions.
Speaking under the theme, “Reforms, Resilience and Results,” Walson-Jack said the service had moved beyond policy declarations to measurable implementation, noting that all federal ministries met the December 31, 2025 digitalisation deadline.
“These are not vanity metrics. They are evidence that technology, when it solves real problems, gets adopted,” she said.
The Head of Service stressed that Nigeria was deepening conversations around the responsible use of artificial intelligence in governance, insisting that AI must complement human judgment rather than replace it.
Walson-Jack credited the reforms to the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying his administration had set a clear tone for accountability, innovation and performance in public service delivery.
The conference attracted delegates from 16 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Ghana and Ethiopia, with over 5,000 participants attending physically and thousands joining virtually.
She also unveiled a new “Deal Room” initiative at the conference aimed at securing concrete partnerships and agreements, insisting that the gathering must produce “signatures, not just speeches.”
In his goodwill message, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, praised Nigeria’s ongoing civil service reforms and expanding international collaborations, describing them as critical steps towards strengthening governance and economic growth.
Montgomery noted that nations across the globe were currently facing mounting uncertainties driven by conflicts, rapid technological changes and evolving geopolitical dynamics.
He said the United Kingdom was deepening its engagement with Nigeria in recognition of the reform initiatives being implemented under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to him, the partnership between both countries has already attracted more than 1.5 billion dollars in fresh investments in key sectors such as agriculture and infrastructure.
“We live in an uncertain world. Multilateral cooperation is becoming more difficult, and countries need to build stronger partnerships and alliances,” Montgomery stated.
He added that public servants globally were under pressure to adapt to emerging realities, stressing that the role of civil servants had become even more vital in addressing modern governance challenges.
Also, the Head of the Civil Service of Ghana, Evans Aggrey-Darkoh described the conference as an important platform for exchanging ideas and strengthening governance systems across Africa.
Aggrey-Darkoh commended Nigeria’s progress in digital transformation and paperless governance, noting that such reforms enhance efficiency, improve service delivery and curb corruption.
“The moment you reduce human interface, you improve quality and tackle issues of corruption,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking on the sidelines of the International Civil Service Conference 2026 in Abuja with our correspondent, the Head of Service of Bayelsa state. Wisdom Ebiye-Sawyer said Bayelsa State is set to deepen civil service reforms with aggressive digitalisation, pension reforms and affordable housing initiatives for workers.
Ebiye-Sawyer described this year’s conference themed “Reforms, Resilience and Results” as a major eye-opener for state governments seeking to modernise public service delivery.
According to him, Bayelsa has already commenced digitalisation of the civil service through intensive trainings across ministries and departments, noting that the state delegation came to understudy reforms being implemented at the federal level.
“The first one is the digitalisation of the civil service, and that has already kickstarted, we have been doing trainings in series through all the ministries so that workers get acquainted with the digitalisation process.” he said.
The Bayelsa Head of Service also revealed that the state’s contributory pension scheme has been signed into law by Governor Douye Diri and would soon be implemented to guarantee sustainable pension payments for retirees.
On housing, Ebiye-Sawyer disclosed that the state government had concluded plans to allocate 108 housing units to eligible civil servants under a subsidised “build and transfer” arrangement.
He said deductions from beneficiaries’ salaries would be minimal, adding that the initiative would help reduce rising rent costs across the state.
