The Federal Government has banned civil servants from using personal emails for official activities.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoSF), Didi Walson-Jack announced the ban on Wednesday in Abuja during a digital transformation summit marking the 20th anniversary of Galaxy Backbone.
The development now makes it illegal for workers employed by federal government to use email accounts, such as Yahoo Mail, for official purposes.
In line with the step, the HoSF said that over 115,000 active official ‘GovMail’ accounts have been activated to guarantee secure, traceable, and professional communications across the federal civil service.
In her words: “Government business cannot continue to depend on personal email addresses, informal channels, and scattered records.
“Thanks to Galaxy Backbone, the days of Yahoo Mail are over for transacting government business. When an officer leaves a desk, government information must not leave with that officer; institutional memory must remain within government.”
WDidi Walson-Jack added that the Federal Government recorded a major digital milestone by fully digitising the work processes of all 38 federal ministries and extra-ministerial departments before the end of December 2025.
She described the achievement as a bold target met through strong institutional commitment, proving that the civil service can successfully reform when leadership is clear and consistent.
Reflecting on the bureaucratic bottlenecks of the past, she noted that in the old order, a moving file could mean it was lost in a bag or awaiting a signature. In contrast, she stated that a digitalised civil service ensures traceability, accountability, and measurable progress.
“For us in the Federal Civil Service, digitalisation is not a slogan or a ceremonial project but a practical reform aimed at improving the way government works.
“The paperless civil service is not about removing paper for the sake of removing paper. It is about removing delay, reducing avoidable bureaucracy, strengthening transparency, and ensuring that government work can be tracked, measured, retrieved, and delivered with speed,” she said further.
