The Federal Ministry of Health has ordered the immediate retirement of directors who have spent eight years or more in the directorate cadre, in line with the federal government’s tenure policy for senior civil servants.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a memo dated February 10 and sighted in Abuja on Tuesday, the ministry directed that all affected officers who had completed eight years in the rank as of December 31, 2025, be disengaged from service with immediate effect.
The circular was signed by Tetshoma Dafeta, Director overseeing the Office of the Permanent Secretary, and issued to heads of agencies, parastatals, and federal health institutions under the ministry.
It instructed that impacted officers must hand over all government property and official documents without delay, while their salaries are to be stopped through the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
The memo also ordered that any salaries or benefits paid beyond their retirement dates be refunded to the treasury.
“Accordingly, all Heads of Agencies and Parastatals are by this circular, to ensure that the affected staff hand over all official documents/possessions with immediate effect, their salaries are stopped by the IPPIS Unit and mandate the officers to refund to the treasury all emoluments paid after their effective date of disengagement.
“This is reiterated in a circular recently issued by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Ref. No. HSCF/3065/Vol.I/225, dated 10,” the memo read.
The directive follows a recent communication from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, which reinforced strict enforcement of the eight-year tenure limit across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Under Section 020909 of the Revised Public Service Rules (PSR) 2021, directors on Grade Level 17 or its equivalent must compulsorily retire after eight years in the position. Permanent secretaries, on the other hand, are limited to four-year tenures, renewable subject to satisfactory performance.
The revised rules were approved by the Federal Executive Council in September 2021 and became operational on July 27, 2023. The then Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan, formally announced their implementation during the 2023 Civil Service Week in Abuja.
The health ministry warned that failure to comply with the directive would attract “stiff sanctions.”
It further directed institutions under its supervision to submit the nominal roll of all directorate officers, including those on CONMESS 07, CONHESS 15 and CONRAISS 15, for monitoring purposes.
Officials from both the civil service office and the health ministry are expected to conduct compliance checks in the coming weeks.
