The Federal Government has directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to immediately stop the long-standing practice of placing civil servants on mandatory three-month pre-retirement leave, stating that the provision does not exist in Nigeria’s Public Service Rules.

According to a circular issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, several MDAs had incorrectly interpreted the three-month retirement notice period as an automatic leave entitlement, leading to the early withdrawal of officers from active service.

The directive, titled “Correct Interpretation of Public Service Rule 120243 on Pre-Retirement Activities,” clarified that officers due for retirement are only required to provide three months’ notice, attend a one-month pre-retirement seminar and use the remaining period to complete service record and pension documentation.

“The so-called mandatory three-month pre-retirement leave has no basis in the Public Service Rules,” Walson-Jack stated in the circular.

She explained that the rule establishes three separate obligations: notification of retirement, participation in a pre-retirement workshop and completion of retirement-related administrative processes. Retiring officers are expected to remain at work and continue carrying out their duties during the notice period unless attending approved seminars or granted leave under existing regulations.

The circular emphasised that the three-month notice requirement should not be interpreted as an exemption from official duties.

As a result, all MDAs have been instructed to stop directing retiring officers to vacate their positions before their official retirement dates. Instead, affected workers must continue discharging their responsibilities while completing pension and service record reconciliations.

The directive was addressed to ministers, permanent secretaries, service chiefs, heads of agencies and other senior government officials, with instructions to ensure strict compliance across the federal public service.

The clarification is expected to affect thousands of federal civil servants approaching retirement annually. For years, many government institutions treated the retirement notice period as an extended leave, allowing officers to stop reporting for duty once retirement notices were submitted.

The government believes the new interpretation will improve service delivery by retaining experienced personnel until their official retirement dates while ensuring retirement documentation is completed on time.

Nigeria’s retirement framework requires federal civil servants to retire at 60 years of age or after 35 years of service, whichever comes first. The government introduced pre-retirement seminars to prepare officers for life after service and guide them through pension processing, but varying interpretations of the rules led to widespread assumptions that a compulsory three-month leave existed.

The latest directive seeks to eliminate that ambiguity and standardise the implementation of retirement procedures across government institutions.