Nigerian Government Commences 14-Day Paternity Leave For Male Civil Servants

The Nigerian Government has commenced 14-day paternity leave for serving male civil servants whose spouse delivers a baby.

Paternity Leave In Nigeria

The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan, who disclosed this in a circular on Monday, said the leave will take effect from November 25, 2022.

The circular titled, “Computation of Leave Based on Working Days and Approval of Paternity Leave in the Public Service”, said the leave is in line with the provisions of the Public Service Rules, 2021 Edition.

“Government has also approved Paternity Leave for serving male officers whose spouse delivers a baby. The period of the leave shall be fourteen working days. The leave shall not be more than once in two years, and a for maximum of four children,” it reads.

“Where the family of a male officer adopts a child under four months old, the officer will similarly enjoy Paternity Leave for a period of fourteen working days.”

“We’ve also gotten approval to include paternity leave. This is something that is new. And this is something that the unions in the service asked that we include, and luckily, we’ve been able to include it.

“We’ve also been able to ensure that leave now is calculated based on working days, not on calendar days, that also has been approved.

“We also have introduced the transition from paper service to a digital service. So these are some of the new things that are in the new PSR that has just been approved by the federal executive council.”

Yemi-Esan also said the request for such leave must be accompanied by the Expected Date of Delivery’s (EDD) report of the officer’s wife or evidence of approval of the adoption of the child by the relevant government bodies.

KanyiDaily recalls that In September 2021, the federal executive council (FEC) approved paternity leave for men in the federal civil service, to enable them to properly bond with their newborn.