FG Scraps Three-Month Preretirement Leave For Civil Servants

THE Federal Government has scrapped the three-month preretirement leave for civil servants.
Nigeria’s federal civil service retirement framework is governed by the Public Service Rules and the Pension Reform Act, under which civil servants retire upon attaining 60 years of age or after 35 years in service, whichever comes first.
The directive was contained in a circular, titled, ‘Correct Interpretation of Public Service Rule 120243 on Pre-Retirement Activities,’ issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, and addressed to top government officials, including ministers, permanent secretaries, service chiefs, heads of agencies and other senior public sector administrators.
The circular directed Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to immediately discontinue the practice of placing civil servants on what is commonly referred to as a mandatory three-month preretirement leave.
The government explained that such a provision does not exist in the Public Service Rules and that several MDAs had wrongly interpreted the retirement notice period as an automatic leave period, leading to the premature withdrawal of officers from active service.
The Public Service Rule, according to Walson-Jack, only requires officers due for retirement to give three months’ notice before their exit date, attend a one-month pre-retirement workshop or seminar, and use the remaining period to regularise service records and pension documentation.
The directive seeks to standardise the implementation of the Public Service Rules across government institutions and to prevent manpower losses resulting from the early disengagement of experienced officers.
Walson-Jack stated that “the so-called ‘mandatory three-month pre-retirement leave’ has no basis in the Public Service Rules,” adding that Rule 120243 establishes three distinct requirements: A notice obligation, attendance at a pre-retirement seminar during the first month and completion of retirement-related documentation during the remaining two months.
She clarified that a retiring officer must give three months’ notice before their effective date of retirement, insisting that “this is a notice requirement, not a leave entitlement,” and that retiring officers remain public servants throughout the notice period and are expected to continue performing their official duties, unless they are attending approved retirement workshops or have been granted leave under existing regulations.
the head of service stated: “PSR 120243 does not exempt retiring officers from official duties during the notice period, except where they are attending an approved pre-retirement workshop or seminar, or are otherwise authorised to be absent under extant leave rules.”
Conseuently, all MDAs were directed to stop compelling retiring officers to vacate their posts before their official retirement dates, as under the new directive, ministries and agencies must ensure that retiring officers continue to discharge their responsibilities, participate in approved pre-retirement programmes, and complete all pension and service record reconciliations before leaving service.
The circular seeks to end that ambiguity by affirming that the three-month period is primarily a notice and administrative preparation window, rather than an automatic absence from duty, even as it instructed permanent secretaries, directors general, executive secretaries, chairpersons of statutory agencies and chief executives of government organisations to bring the directive to the attention of all staff and ensure strict compliance.
The government expressed optimism that the measure could improve service delivery by ensuring that retiring officers continue contributing their expertise until their official exit dates, while simultaneously completing documentation required for pension processing.