By Abbas Jimoh
The Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) has unveiled a new five-year strategic plan aimed at restoring professionalism and accountability to Nigeria’s civil serve bureaucracy and breaking the cycle of patronage in public service recruitment and promotions.
The FCSC Chairman, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, announcing the plan on Monday in Abuja at a high-level stakeholders’ validation workshop in Abuja, said the strategic plan is a turning point for the commission and the entire civil service.
“The Nigerian Civil Service cannot continue with outdated, opaque, and manual systems. We are embedding meritocracy, digital transformation, performance-based promotions, and strict ethical standards to rebuild public trust and restore the lost glory of the service,” Olaopa said.
He said that the strategy rests on six pillars: strengthening institutional independence; introducing nationwide competitive exams and digital recruitment platforms; linking promotions to performance and citizen feedback; automating HR operations; embedding whistle-blower protections and ethical audits; and ensuring inclusivity through transparent application of federal character, gender, and disability representation.
He also said staff members of the commission should not entertain any fear of rationalisation.
The strategic plan spanning 2026 to 2030, which is the first by the commission in its 71-year history, is meant to transform the FCSC into a critical human resource management (HRM) advisory hub that the Federal Government can draw on.
According to him, the rationalisation is not part of the strategic plan because the personnel of the commission are attracted from the central pool, which is located at the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation.
He, however said that the commission might be recruiting a crop of its staff members.
“But that will take a little longer because it means we have to have a pay structure that is a little different from the service-wide known pay structure,” he said, adding that those are details for the future.
“In the meantime, we are going to find a way of embellishing the incentive structure so that within the framework of pay and compensation, we are still able to provide the motivation,” he said.
Prof. Olaopa said strategic plans of public sector institutions, for all practical purposes, typically provide a framework for translating strategic intent into concrete measurable action, performance improvement, resource optimisation and policy alignment.
He said, “For the FCSC, it is a tool for rethinking traditional, outdated operations and processes, and for driving transformation in line with 21st-century governance and management principles.”
He said the commission is not reinventing the wheel but is taking the benefit of comparable countries’ experiences as well as good cum smart practices that are observable in the reforms of civil service commissions across the Commonwealth in six domain areas.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, commended the initiative as a critical enabler of the broader Federal Civil Service Reform Agenda, and pledged her office’s full support.
She said, “Our shared vision is a world-class service that is professional, accountable and performance-oriented.”
The HCSF Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Service Policies and Strategies Office (SPSO), Dr. Deborah Odoh, said the decision to engage stakeholders reflected a deep appreciation for inclusiveness, collaboration, and shared ownership of reforms within the civil service.
Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the FCSC, Mr. Ndiomu Ebioghe Philip, said that as the nation navigate a rapidly changing public sector landscape, it has become imperative the commission take a step back, assess where they are, and strategically chart a course for where they must go.
“Our goal is clear: to reposition the FCSC as a forward-thinking, people-centered, and performance-driven institution, one that is fully equipped to meet the challenges of today and anticipate the needs of tomorrow,” Philip said.
The event attracted key stakeholders, including representatives of the Chief of Staff to the President, Police Service Commission (PSC), Bureau of Public Service Reform (BPSR), retired federal permanent secretaries; and international partners including the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (through the PACE programme) among others.
