The Federal Government says more than 115,000 official email accounts are currently active across the public service as part of efforts to build a fully digital and paperless civil service.
Didi Walson-Jack, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, disclosed this on Wednesday at the Digital Transformation Summit 2026 organised by Galaxy Backbone in Abuja to commemorate the organisation’s 20th anniversary.
She said the GovMail platform has become a vital tool for secure, professional and traceable communication across government institutions, helping to strengthen accountability and protect institutional records.
According to Walson-Jack, the government’s digital transformation programme has also led to the complete digitisation of operations in 38 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
She described digitalisation as a key pillar of ongoing civil service reforms, noting that it is improving transparency, accountability and service delivery.
“In the old order, when a file was said to be moving, that statement could mean many things,” Walson-Jack said.
“Today, however, in a digital civil service, movement must mean traceability, accountability, timely action and measurable progress. That is the change we are driving.”
She added that government institutions have moved away from using personal email services for official business.
“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,” she said.
Walson-Jack said the civil service had progressed from discussing digital transformation to implementing it, resulting in the successful digitisation of work processes across ministries and extra-ministerial departments.
“This was a bold target but we are glad it was achieved. The civil service must lead by example in the modernisation of government,” she said.
“We gave a clear directive, engaged permanent secretaries, monitored progress, provided guidance and insisted that the Federal Civil Service must move at the speed required by the times.”
She explained that the paperless civil service initiative goes beyond reducing paper usage and is aimed at eliminating delays, cutting bureaucracy, improving transparency and strengthening accountability.
According to her, the reforms are already delivering results through faster processing of correspondence, easier access to records, improved supervision and stronger institutional continuity.
Walson-Jack also stressed the importance of connecting government institutions through digital platforms, saying seamless information sharing would reduce duplication of functions and improve response times to citizens’ needs.
“If these institutions are not connected, government will be slow. If systems cannot speak to one another, citizens will suffer delays,” she said.
She commended Galaxy Backbone for providing critical digital infrastructure, including GovMail, the iGovernment Cloud platform, high-speed internet services and secure connectivity that support government operations.
