A circular has emerged where the immediate past Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan, instructed that only academic qualifications are required for entry into the country’s civil and public service.

The circular, dated April 12, 2021, was written after a meeting of the National Council on Establishment in Lagos.

The circular, personally signed by Yemi-Esan, reads in part: “The National Council on Establishment (NCE) at its 42nd meeting held from 30th November – 4th December 2020 in Ikeja, Lagos State resolved that professional certificates shall no longer serve as entry qualifications into any cadre in the Civil/Public Service. Consequently, only academic qualifications such as Junior and Senior Secondary School Certificates (WASC/SSCE), NECO, GCE, ND, NCE, HND, University degrees, and postgraduate degrees shall apply.”

This is in response to the insistence by professional bodies that certification is compulsory for entry into civil/public service.

Earlier this month, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) issued a warning to professional bodies to operate within the existing memorandum of understanding signed with the Board, saying that overstepping their bounds will attract severe consequences.

“I must emphasise that some professional bodies are overstepping their bounds. Some even go to NYSC to stop the mobilisation of graduates. This has now been resolved, and NYSC has stopped aiding this illegality,” the Executive Secretary of NBTE said in a memo dated September 11, 2024.