Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to comply with ongoing transition of all government operations to digital platforms that will enhance efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery, and promote more inter-agency synergy.
The president gave the directive at the opening ceremony of the e-NIGERIA 2019 Conference on the Nigerian Digital Economy held at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja, yesterday.
Buhari said the transition to digital economy was no longer optional for the MDAs, but “an absolute necessity,’’ following the launch of the e-government master plan, which would drive and guide the process.
He noted that a directive in 2018 that all government funded ICT projects must be reviewed and cleared by National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) saved the country over N16.8 billion.
“Our recent introduction of the Nigerian E-government Masterplan will further consolidate our successes to date and increase interoperability among the different Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government.
“A key requirement of the e-government Master plan is for all government institutions to create a Digital Transformation Technical Working Group that will work with the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to ensure seamless and coordinated implementation of projects, programs and policies.
“Furthermore, the Nigerian e-Government Interoperability Framework, the Enterprise Architecture and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation are in place and all Ministries, Departments and Agencies are expected to comply with these policies,’’ he said.
Buhari said that the digitisation of key operations in public service such as the use of the Bank Verification Number (BVN), Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) had enabled the government to save cost and fight corruption.