The federal government has directed all civil servants to immediately discontinue the use of personal email accounts for official communication, as part of efforts to prevent rising cyberattacks and safeguard the flow of information.
It has mandated the adoption of approved government email platforms across the federal public service.
The directive was announced by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, during a digital transformation summit held in Abuja to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Galaxy Backbone.
According to Mrs Walson-Jack, more than 115,000 official GovMail accounts have been activated to enhance the security, professionalism, and accountability of government correspondence.
She emphasised that official government business must no longer be conducted through personal email services or informal communication channels, which often pose challenges for record-keeping and institutional accountability.
She explained that one of the primary reasons for the policy is to ensure continuity in government operations. Official records and communications, she noted, must remain within government-controlled systems even after public officers leave office, preventing the loss of critical information tied to individual accounts.
The Head of Service also revealed that the Federal Government achieved a major digital transformation milestone by successfully digitising work processes across all 38 federal ministries and extra-ministerial departments before the end of December 2025.
Describing the accomplishment as a testament to effective leadership and institutional commitment, Mrs Walson-Jack said the milestone demonstrates the civil service’s growing readiness to embrace modern governance and technology-driven service delivery.
She further acknowledged longstanding challenges associated with manual processes, including delays, misplaced files, and bottlenecks in approval workflows.
The transition to digital systems, she said, has significantly improved document tracking, strengthened accountability mechanisms, and enhanced performance monitoring across government institutions.
The paperless civil service initiative is expected to accelerate decision-making, reduce bureaucracy, improve transparency, and ensure faster retrieval and processing of official records, ultimately creating a more efficient and responsive public service.