Nigeria’s Ministries No Longer Need Paper – FG Declares Paperless Civil Service

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, has announced that all federal ministries in the country have now transitioned to a paperless system.

According to her, every ministry has been digitalised and would no longer be needing papers to carry out any government activities.

Addressing the press on Wednesday, she said that over 100,000 email accounts have been created for civil servants on the GovMail platform, adding that all civil servants now have official government email addresses, ensuring they operate with official email identities for secure, professional and auditable government
communication at scale.

The HCSF explained that henceforth, no federal ministry would accept any paper correspondence but only scanned letters sent through the appropriate email addresses.

She added that the Federal Civil Service has now expanded its digital efforts to include 38 Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments, MEMDs, comprising 33 Ministries and five Extra-Ministerial Departments, including the State House, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Federal Civil Service Commission, and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

Walson-Jack said, “This strengthens sovereignty over official correspondence, enhances responsiveness across MDAs, and reduces  reliance on unofficial communication channels.

“Additionally, GovMail is saving the Federal Government billions of Naira annually by reducing dependence on fragmented, agency-specific external email subscriptions and licenses, delivering better value-for-money.

“Engagements are ongoing with telecommunications providers to make online access more affordable for Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments and to enhance the reliability of connectivity needed for digital workflows.

“At the same time, a sustainable pricing model is being created to keep digitalisation platforms affordable, scalable, and maintainable over the long term, ensuring service continuity and value-for-money for the government.

“To consolidate these gains and end the culture of paper-based bureaucracy, the 38 Federal Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments will no longer accept paper submissions through their physical registries.

“All correspondence to the MEMDs should now be sent to the official registry email addresses, which can be found on the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation website.

“Citizens can also now track their correspondence with individual MEMDs through the Federal Civil Service

Paperless portal. In simple terms, a paperless Civil Service means that Citizens and the International Community no longer need to send traditional paper letters with envelopes to communicate with the Federal Civil Service.

“Instead, a scanned letter sent via email or correspondence, with attachments from a personal or organisational email address, to any MEMD would be sufficient.”