CIPM President Calls for Fundamental Overhaul of Nigeria’s Public Service

By Benson Daniel

The President and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, Mallam Ahmed Ladan Gobir, has called for an urgent transformation of Nigeria’s public service, anchored on innovation, accountability, citizen participation, inclusion and strategic management of human resources.

Gobir made the call while delivering a keynote address at the Ogun State 2026 Public Service Day Celebration Lecture held at the Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, where he challenged public sector leaders to rethink how government institutions deliver services to citizens.

He said the primary purpose of public service should not be limited to processing documents or implementing administrative procedures, but should focus on improving the lives of citizens through efficient, accessible and responsive government services.

According to him, citizens judge government largely through their experiences with public institutions, making the quality and impact of public services an important measure of effective governance.

Gobir argued that innovation within the public sector must go beyond the introduction of digital tools, warning that simply transferring inefficient processes to digital platforms would not solve underlying institutional problems.

He urged public institutions to review existing procedures, eliminate unnecessary bottlenecks and redesign services around the needs of citizens rather than the convenience of government agencies.

The CIPM president also identified accountability as a major requirement for rebuilding public confidence in government institutions. He said public servants and institutions must demonstrate competence, fairness, transparency, consistency and responsiveness in their dealings with citizens.

He further called for greater citizen participation in public decision making, stressing that engagement should not be limited to inviting members of the public to events after decisions have already been taken.

Gobir said citizens should be given meaningful opportunities to contribute to decisions and policies that directly affect their lives, adding that genuine participation would strengthen the relationship between government and the people.

On inclusion, he called for public services to take into account differences in socioeconomic status, location, technology access and other circumstances that could prevent some citizens from benefiting from government programmes.

He noted that a service could not be regarded as truly inclusive if it existed technically but remained practically inaccessible to significant sections of the population.

The CIPM president also placed human capital at the centre of public sector reform, stressing that institutions could not achieve sustainable transformation beyond the capacity of the people working within them.

He advocated stronger approaches to talent management, leadership development, performance management and continuous capacity building to equip public servants with the skills required to respond to emerging challenges.

Gobir urged public sector organisations to create workplaces where competence, integrity, innovation and excellence are recognised and rewarded, while encouraging leaders to invest in developing the people responsible for implementing government policies.

Speaking on Ogun State, he encouraged the state to pursue development beyond physical infrastructure and technology by strengthening institutions that are responsive, efficient and focused on citizens.

He summarised the transformation agenda around four key principles, saying innovation should change the way government works, accountability should change its culture, participation should improve the relationship between government and citizens, while inclusion should shape the design of public services.

He further stressed that leadership would determine whether these reforms succeed, noting that institutions do not transform themselves but are transformed by people and the quality of leadership provided.

Gobir said the ultimate test of public sector reform should not be the number of policies introduced or projects launched, but the number of lives improved and the ease with which citizens can access government services.

The call comes as the CIPM continues to promote stronger human resource management and institutional capacity as key drivers of organisational and national development.