Tinubu Orders Re-Verification of Civil Servants Hired 2013–2020 Amid Job Racketeering Scandal

The Federal Government has launched a sweeping re-verification exercise for civil servants recruited between 2013 and 2020, following mounting allegations of job racketeering and the sale of federal employment slots.

The directive, issued via an August 4 circular signed by Ndiomu Ebiogeh Philip, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), warns that any officer who fails to participate will be presumed to hold a fake appointment letter and removed from service.

According to the FCSC, the exercise targets workers who skipped the 2021 verification process. “No further extension will be granted,” the circular states, adding that some officers may have “deliberately stayed away to avoid detection.”

The move comes after whistleblower Martins Oghenerhoro Richard Atijegbe petitioned the National Assembly, alleging that senior officials in the Ministry of Works sold federal jobs for up to ₦2.5 million each. Atijegbe, who works in the ministry’s Human Resource Management Department, claims unqualified candidates were smuggled into the civil service with forged documents and placed on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) within weeks.

The Ministry of Works has denied any wrongdoing, describing the allegations as “incredibly fictitious.”

Affected officers have been instructed to check their names on the FCSC website, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation’s website, and their ministry’s notice boards. Required documents include letters of appointment, regularisation, promotion, gazetted confirmation, and the July 2025 IPPIS payslip.

The re-verification will run from August 18 to 28, covering ministries including Agriculture, Defence, Education, Justice, Works, Information, Science and Technology, Aviation, Finance, Interior, and the State House.

The FCSC maintains that those absent without valid reason will be deemed to have entered the service fraudulently.