On August 4, 2025, the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, issued a directive requiring 3,598 federal civil servants recruited between 2013 and 2020 and who failed to partake in the 2021 verification exercise to undergo a fresh re-verification.
The round of re-verification will take place from August 18 to August 28, 2025, across multiple ministries and agencies, including Agriculture, Defence, Education, Justice, Works, Information, Science & Technology, Aviation, Finance, Interior, and the State House.
Justification For The Re-verification
According to the circular signed by FCSC’s Permanent Secretary Ndiomu Ebiogeh Philip, failure to appear will be taken as evidence of possessing a fake appointment letter prompting immediate dismissal.
The directive is linked to broader efforts to root out systemic job-for-sale schemes and racketeering in civil service recruitment.
The re-verification follows a whistleblower petition to the National Assembly, which exposed how officials in the Ministry of Works allegedly sold jobs for up to N2.5 million providing forged appointment letters and fast-tracking fake hires onto the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
The whistleblower insisted the verification is a direct response to his petition: “Due to my petition, the Federal Civil Service Commission is verifying all appointment letters made from 2013 to 2020, to ascertain the level of fake letters in the system.”
What This Means For Affected Civil Servants
Officers named in the directive must check their eligibility via the FCSC website, the Office of the Head of Civil Service’s official portal, or ministry notice boards.
They must appear in person during the August 18–28 window and bring original and photocopied copies of their appointment letter, gazetted confirmation, promotion records, staff change letters, and their July 2025 IPPIS payslip.
The FCSC stressed that there will be no further extension, and non-compliance will be treated as admission of fraudulent appointment.
Government And Social Reactions
While there is no known public response yet from the Ministry of Works, which is implicated in the racketeering claims, the move has generated heightened scrutiny over civil service recruitment integrity and internal reforms.
Public discourse has already begun, especially among civil servants and advocacy groups, who see the exercise as overdue in dismantling entrenched corruption.
X user Ali tweeted: “What will happen to those found guilty? Will the process be just?”
Another X user Temitope tweeted: “If they are going to do the right thing and not witch hunt and try to replace peoplewith their own people, i support this 100 %. But knowing the antecedent of people in power, there is always an ulterior motive behind stuff like this and this may not be for the betterment of the country. Fingers crossed.
What’s Next
The FCSC’s insistence on no extensions suggests a hardline stance intended to restore integrity to the federal workforce.
Whether this exercise will indeed cleanse the system of fraudulent hires or spark legal challenges remains to be seen.
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