The Federal Ministry of Health has directed the immediate disengagement of all directors who have spent eight years or more in the directorate cadre, in line with existing civil service tenure regulations.
The directive affects directors across the ministry, federal hospitals, agencies and parastatals, according to an internal memo obtained in Abuja on Tuesday.
The action follows a wider Federal Government instruction earlier reported exclusively by The PUNCH, mandating all Ministries, Departments and Agencies to enforce the statutory tenure limit for directors and permanent secretaries. The directive was issued through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, which recently set a compliance deadline.
Retirement Directive
In the circular signed by Tetshoma Dafeta, Director overseeing the Office of the Permanent Secretary, officials were reminded that the Eight-Year Tenure Policy under the Revised Public Service Rules requires compulsory retirement after eight years in that rank.
The memo instructed heads of agencies and parastatals to ensure that all affected officers who reached the tenure threshold as of December 31, 2025, are disengaged immediately. It further directed that such officers must hand over all official property, while their salaries are to be stopped through the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System. Any payments received beyond their effective disengagement date must be refunded to government coffers.
The ministry also warned that compliance will be monitored jointly by officials from the civil service headquarters and the ministry, adding that failure to implement the directive would attract sanctions.
Institutions were additionally instructed to submit updated nominal rolls of directorate-level officers across relevant salary structures to designated ministry email addresses for verification.
The enforcement traces its legal basis to the Revised Public Service Rules approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2021 and formally implemented from July 27, 2023. Announcing the rollout at a lecture held at the State House during Civil Service Week that year, former Head of Service Folasade Yemi-Esan confirmed the rules had become operational nationwide.
Under Section 020909 of the revised regulations, permanent secretaries are limited to a four-year tenure, renewable only upon satisfactory performance, while directors on Grade Level 17 or equivalent must retire after eight years in that position.
