…orders MDAs to sustain digitalised work processes
President Bola Tinubu has said that the nation’s bureaucracy must no longer be perceived as a bottleneck but serve as a bridge to efficiency, investment, innovation and inclusive growth.
He has urged the nation’s civil service to institutionalise resilience in order to standardise the digitalisation process achieved by the federal government.
The President gave this charge in his opening speech, declaring the International Civil Service Conference 2026 open in Abuja on Wednesday.
In a speech delivered on his behalf by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. George Akume, the President also ordered the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to sustain the digitalisation processes achieved so far to enhance efficiency and transparency in the service.
He said the focus of his administration was to make the government work for everyone with recognition that no policy, however sound, could succeed without a capable, disciplined and high-performing Civil Service to implement it.
“When we spoke of digitalisation in 2025, some may have considered it an ambition for the distant future. Today, with 38 Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments operating on a secure, paperless and end-to-end electronic workflow system, we are sending a clear message: Nigeria is building a public service that enables progress.
“This digital leap is being reinforced by the Personnel Audit and Skills Gap Analysis, which I authorised during the last Conference and which is now nearing completion.
“We are no longer relying on assumptions about our capacity; we are measuring it. We are identifying gaps, strengthening competencies and ensuring that the right people are placed in the right roles, equipped with the digital skills and professional discipline required for 21st-century governance.
“This Conference must therefore serve as a results laboratory. It must challenge us to ask hard questions: How do we make reform irreversible? How do we strengthen accountability?
“How do we ensure that technology improves service delivery and not merely internal processes? How do we build institutions that endure beyond personalities and political cycles?
We must institutionalise resilience so that the progress of today becomes the standard of tomorrow. The world is watching Nigeria. More importantly, Nigerians are expecting results.
“Our responsibility is to justify their confidence by building a Civil Service that is efficient, ethical, professional, innovative and firmly committed to national development.”
He continued, “Accordingly, all Ministries and Extra-Ministerial Departments are hereby directed to sustain and deepen their digitalised work processes.
“Agencies are also directed to adopt digitalisation across their internal operations and service delivery systems. The era of manual inefficiency must give way to a culture of speed, transparency, data-driven decision-making and citizen-centred service.
I wish to specially commend the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, for her exemplary leadership in driving the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025, which has yielded significant results.
“The integration of innovative tools, including the Service-Wise GPT, demonstrates what is possible when visionary leadership is matched with disciplined execution, institutional ownership and a clear commitment to reform.
“I also commend the collective efforts of our Ministries, Extra-Ministerial Departments and Agencies. Through sustained internal collaboration, Nigeria’s public service transformation journey has continued to gain momentum.
“Our shared commitment to governance reform, institutional strengthening and improved service delivery is positioning the country as an emerging benchmark for public service reform on the Continent and beyond.
