Federal civil service will no longer routinely place employees on a so‑called three‑month pre‑retirement leave, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoSF) said in a directive this week, a move aimed at keeping experienced officials at their posts until formal retirement.
In a circular titled “Correct Interpretation of Public Service Rule 120243 on Pre‑Retirement Activities,” Didi Walson‑Jack, HoSF, told Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Service Chiefs and other senior officials that the practice has no basis in the Public Service Rules.
The circular, orders Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to stop treating the three‑month retirement notice as an automatic leave period.
Walson‑Jack said many agencies had misread the rules and were effectively removing officers from active duty well before their formal exit dates.
The Public Service Rule, she wrote, requires only that an officer give three months’ notice before retiring, attend a one‑month pre‑retirement workshop or seminar, and use the remainder of that period to regularize service records and pension documentation.
“The so‑called ‘mandatory three‑month pre‑retirement leave’ has no basis in the Public Service Rules,” the circular states.
It makes clear that the three‑month window is a notice and administrative preparation period, not a leave entitlement, and that retiring officers remain public servants throughout and are expected to continue performing official duties unless attending approved seminars or otherwise authorized to be absent under existing leave rules.
NewsQuest reports that under Nigeria’s federal framework, governed by the Public Service Rules and the Pension Reform Act, civil servants retire at age 60 or after 35 years of service, whichever comes first.
The Head of Service said the directive is intended to standardize how those rules are applied across government and to prevent manpower losses from the premature disengagement of experienced staff.
The circular instructs permanent secretaries, directors‑general and agency chiefs to notify employees and ensure compliance.
It adds that allowing officials to remain at their posts until their official exit dates should improve service delivery and permit retiring officers to complete pension and service‑record reconciliations before leaving.
