By Ghazali Ibrahim
The Federal Government has directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to immediately discontinue the practice of placing civil servants on a mandatory three-month pre-retirement leave, declaring that the arrangement has no basis in Nigeria’s Public Service Rules.
The directive was contained in a circular issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, and addressed to ministers, permanent secretaries, service chiefs, heads of government agencies and other senior public officials.
According to the circular, many MDAs had wrongly interpreted provisions of the Public Service Rules by treating the mandatory three-month notice preceding retirement as a leave period, leading to the premature withdrawal of experienced officers from active service.
Walson-Jack explained that Public Service Rule 120243 only requires officers due for retirement to give three months’ notice before their retirement date, attend a one-month pre-retirement seminar or workshop, and use the remaining period to reconcile service records and process pension documentation.
She stressed that the notice period is not a leave entitlement and does not exempt officers from carrying out their official responsibilities.
“The so-called mandatory three-month pre-retirement leave has no basis in the Public Service Rules,” the Head of Service stated in the circular.
Under the new directive, retiring officers are expected to remain at their duty posts and continue performing their official functions until their effective retirement date, except when attending approved pre-retirement programmes or when otherwise granted leave under existing regulations.
The government said the measure is aimed at standardising the interpretation of the Public Service Rules across federal institutions and preventing the loss of manpower resulting from the early disengagement of experienced personnel.
All permanent secretaries, directors-general, executive secretaries, chairpersons of statutory agencies and chief executives of government organisations have been directed to ensure strict compliance with the circular and bring its contents to the attention of staff.
The development comes as the Federal Government continues efforts to reform the civil service and improve efficiency in public institutions. Nigeria’s retirement framework requires civil servants to leave service upon attaining 60 years of age or after completing 35 years in service, whichever comes first.
