By Erewunmi Peace

The Federal Government has announced that salaries of federal civil servants who fail to complete the ongoing Personnel Audit and Skills Gap Analysis (PASGA) verification exercise will be suspended beginning March 2026.

The directive was issued through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation as part of efforts to conclude the nationwide personnel audit.

Final Verification Window

According to the circular, a final two-week mop-up exercise has been approved for workers who have not completed both:

• Physical verification
• Online skills assessment

The verification window is scheduled to run from February 16 to February 27, 2026, at designated centres in Abuja.

Civil servants who fail to comply within this period will be considered non-compliant and may have their salaries withheld starting March 2026.

Purpose of PASGA

The Personnel Audit and Skills Gap Analysis (PASGA) was introduced to:

• Verify the authenticity of federal civil servants
• Identify skill gaps across ministries, departments, and agencies
• Eliminate irregularities in the federal payroll system

Government officials say the exercise is part of broader public service reforms aimed at improving efficiency and accountability.

Possible Implications
Beyond salary suspension, prolonged non-compliance could attract further administrative action in line with public service regulations.

Affected civil servants have been urged to take advantage of the final window to regularise their records before the deadline.

Further updates are expected as the February 27 deadline approaches.