IMPACT OF ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION, RPA ON FILEPROCESSING AND RED TAPE REDUCTION IN NIGERIAN FEDERALMDA’s. A STUDY OF THE OFFICE OF THE HEAD OF CIVIL SERVICE OFTHE FEDERATION.

Abstract

Nigeria has faced several challenges such as bureaucratic inefficiency, manual file processing, administrative
red tape, limited automation, and poor service delivery, which has undermined citizen trust and hindered
economic development (PEBEC, 2025). The Federal Government initiated the deployment of Robotic Process
Automation (RPA), the migration to the 1Gov Cloud Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS), workflow
orchestration, automated task routing, and digital literacy training programmes across Ministries, Departments,
and Agencies to address these challenges. The target population are management staff, middle-level officers,
and junior staff in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Abuja. The total population of the
study is approximately 3,650 staff. A sample size of 348 respondents was determined using the Krejcie and
Morgan (1970) determination formula. Primary data were sourced from structured questionnaires administered
to 348 sampled staff and semi-structured interviews conducted with 10 key informants, while secondary data
were sourced from official documents, reports, and publications from the OHCSF, BPSR, NITDA, academic
journals, and media reports. The study recommended, among other things, that the Office of the Head of Civil
Service of the Federation should intensify the deployment of automation tools for data entry and document
verification across all departments, expand the scope of workflow orchestration and automated task routing to
cover all administrative processes, and implement comprehensive change management strategies, including
continuous training and stakeholder engagement, to enhance the adoption and utilisation of the 1Gov Cloud
ECMS for improved transparency and accountability.