Public Administration and Service Charter Implementation in Federal Parastatals: A Professional Assessment of NAFDAC and NESREA

This study undertakes a professional assessment of service charter implementation in two key federal regulatory parastatals, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, with a focus on public administration quality and stakeholder service delivery experience. Service charters represent a public administration reform tool intended to define minimum service standards, turnaround times, and redress mechanisms for clients of government agencies. Drawing on new public management theory and recent regulatory administration literature from 2019 to 2024, the study employs a professional practitioner research design. Data are gathered from senior staff of both agencies, regulated industry clients, civil society monitors, and the Bureau of Public Service Reforms through structured interviews and service charter document analysis. Qualitative content analysis and benchmarking against the SERVICOM charter standards are applied. The study expects to find that both agencies have service charters in place but face common implementation challenges including poor internal charter communication, inadequate client feedback mechanisms, backlog-induced turnaround time failures, and absence of regular charter performance audits. Recommendations address institutionalising charter performance reviews, strengthening SERVICOM oversight visits, digitising service request tracking, and linking service charter outcomes to agency performance management systems. Keywords: service charter, public administration, NAFDAC, NESREA, regulatory management