No fewer than 3,598 civil servants in the federal public service are in danger of losing their jobs after failing to participate in the 2021 verification exercise, the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) has warned.
The commission said the affected officers, recruited between 2013 and 2020, have been given one last opportunity to appear for a re-verification scheduled for Monday, August 18, to Thursday, August 28, 2025.
Failure to attend, it warned, will be taken as conclusive evidence that the officers are in possession of fake letters of appointment and are deliberately staying away to avoid detection.
The re-verification will take place across several ministries, departments and agencies, including Agriculture, Defence, Education, Justice, Works, Information, Science and Technology, Aviation, Finance, Interior, and the State House.
A directive dated August 4, sighted by our correspondent instructed all affected officers to confirm their names on the commission’s website, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation’s website, and on notice boards in their respective ministries.
Those summoned must present original and photocopies of their letters of appointment and promotion, the gazette of appointment and confirmation, staff change letter, and their July 2025 Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) payslip.
The FCSC stressed that all officers must adhere strictly to the dates on the official schedule and that no extension will be granted under any circumstances.
Officers who have been posted out of their ministries, are on secondment, transfer or study leave, are also required to appear.
It also clarified that those who have recently been verified at the commission do not need to repeat the exercise.
Statistics released by the FCSC show that the largest number of affected officers are in the Ministry of Information with 592, followed by the Ministry of Education with 506, and the Ministry of Labour with 440.
Others 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).
The fresh verification exercise comes as part of ongoing efforts by the government to sanitise the civil service payroll, eliminate ghost workers, and address the rising cases of employment racketeering, which have in recent years seen thousands of fake appointment letters circulating in the public service.
Sources within the commission told our correspondent that previous verification drives uncovered numerous cases where individuals presented forged letters of employment, often procured through syndicates operating inside and outside government offices.
The upcoming exercise is expected to involve physical screening, document validation, and cross-checking of IPPIS records to confirm the authenticity of each appointment.
