KEY POINTS

• Civil service verification exercise targets 3,598 workers.
• Failure to appear could lead to dismissal.
• The largest number of cases was found in Information Ministry.

Nigeria’s Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) has ordered 3,598 workers who missed the 2021 verification to undergo fresh checks this month.

The re-verification exercise will run from August 18 to 28 across ministries, departments, and agencies, including Agriculture, Defence and Education.

Other participating ministries include Justice, Works, Information, Science and Technology, Aviation, Finance, Interior, and the State House, according to officials.

A circular dated August 4 instructed affected staff to confirm their names on the FCSC’s website and other official platforms.

The notice also directed officers to check the Office of the Head of Civil Service portal and ministry notice boards.

Fresh verification targets suspected fake appointments

The civil service verification exercise covers officers recruited between 2013 and 2020 who missed the 2021 verification process entirely.

Officers must present originals and photocopies of employment documents, including appointment and promotion letters, gazetted confirmations and staff change notices.

They are also required to bring their July 2025 IPPIS payslip as part of the verification requirements.

The commission warned there would be no further extensions for any officer failing to appear for the scheduled exercise.

Failure to attend will be treated as deliberate avoidance aimed at concealing fraudulent or fake appointment letters, officials stated.

Officers who recently completed the verification process are exempt from the new exercise, the commission clarified in the circular.

Ministries with the highest numbers of affected officers

The Ministry of Information has the largest number of affected officers, with 592 employees due for re-verification, followed by Education with 506 and Labour with 440.

Other ministries include Works (134), Industry and Trade (196), Health (158), Environment (237), Interior (24), Defence (28), and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (36).

According to Punch, the FCSC said the exercise is part of its broader efforts to sanitise the public service, reduce payroll fraud, and ensure that only legitimately recruited officers remain on the government’s payroll.