Health Ministry begins sweeping retirement of long-serving directors

A MAJOR shake-up has begun across the Federal Ministry of Health and its agencies as directors who have remained in office for 8 years or more are now being compulsorily retired.

The order, contained in a new internal circular, applies not only to officials at the ministry’s headquarters but also to directors serving in federal hospitals, parastatals, and health-related agencies nationwide.

Officials said the decision was part of a broader government move to strictly apply tenure limits across all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). The directive, coordinated through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, sets clear deadlines for the exit of directors and permanent secretaries who have exceeded their approved terms.

At the Federal Ministry of Health, the enforcement notice was issued by Tetshoma Dafeta, who oversees the Office of the Permanent Secretary. In the document, management was instructed to immediately disengage any director who had completed 8 years in the grade as of December 31, 2025.

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The circular drew authority from the Revised Public Service Rules 2021, specifically Section 020909, which mandates compulsory retirement for directors after 8years in the rank.

To ensure full compliance, heads of institutions under the ministry were ordered to collect all official files, government property, and handover notes from the affected officers without delay.

In addition, the ministry directed that the salaries of disengaged directors be stopped through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Any payments received after the official exit date must be refunded to the Nigerian government.

All health institutions were also told to compile and submit a full list of their directorate-level staff, including those on CONMESS 07, CONHESS 15, and CONRAISS 15, to the ministry’s human resources department through designated official email addresses.

The memo further warned that compliance would be verified through physical monitoring visits by teams from both the Ministry of Health and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

This enforcement follows a government-wide circular issued on February 10, 2026 (Ref: HSCF/3065/Vol.I/225), which restated that tenure limits must now be strictly applied across all MDAs.

The tenure policy itself was introduced under the revised Public Service Rules approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in 2021 and later unveiled during the 2023 Civil Service Week.

Former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Ms Folasade Yemi-Esan, had announced that the revised rules became operational on July 27, 2023, The Punch reported.

Under the new framework, permanent secretaries are allowed a single 4-year term, renewable only based on performance, while directors on Grade Level 17 or equivalent must leave office after eight years.

The Health Ministry’s action is now one of the first major sector-wide implementations of the rule, signalling that long-standing exemptions across MDAs are coming to an end.