Digital technologies are facilitating Nigeria’s anti-corruption drive – Communications Minister

The  Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, has said that digital technologies are facilitating the Anti-Corruption crusade of the President Muhammadu Buhari, led administration in Nigeria.

The Minister stated this at the 2021 Pre-Democracy Day Conference with the theme “Appraising the Impact of President Muhamadu Buhari’s Anti-Corruption Fight on the Nigerian Economy since 2015”, organised by Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN) in collaboration with Transparency Advocacy Development Initiative (TADI) in Abuja.

Represented by the Managing Director, Nigeria Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT),Mrs Abimbola Alale, Dr. Pantami said government policies, such as; Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), Government Information Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), Bank Verification Number (BVN), among others, are good success stories of ICT adoption to combat corruption.

He noted  that the implementation of TSA and IPPIS/BVN is saving the country billions of naira every month, and had facilitated the elimination of ghost workers in various MDAs.

“In Nigeria, ICT has supported the fight against corruption by raising accountability and transparency through online services, transparency or open data portals, crowdsource and online corruption reporting, service automation and digitalization”, he said.

While presenting a paper ,the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Kashifu Inuwa  said, innovative ideas will help in curtailing corruption in Nigeria.

Inuwa recalled that  the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration’s commitment at the global level, led to Nigeria joining the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in July 2016 as the 70th country. The OGP is an international multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving transparency, accountability, citizen participation and responsiveness to citizens through technology and innovation.

The NITDA Boss who was represented by the Director, IT Infrastructure Solutions, NITDA,Usman Gambo
explained that the administration  has shown its commitment by launching the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS 2020 – 2030) for a Digital Nigeria.

He emphasized that  the goal of NDEPS is to promote the use of digital technologies to enhance transparency and anti-corruption, which is at the heart of the digital economy.

He  noted that IT Projects Clearance Process of NITDA facilitated unprecedented improvement in IT Projects delivery in Federal Public Institutions, which resulted in saving over 22.5 Billion Naira for the Federal Government.

The IT Regulator’s, The Director General  cited the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS 2017-2021), which is anchored on 5 Pillars namely; Prevention, Engagement, Ethical Re-orientation; Enforcement, Sanctions and Recovery; and Management of Proceeds of Crime. Adding that; “in each of these, efforts were made to ensure adequate utilization of ICT towards their realization”.

Inuwa also stated that the shift in funds from resource-based and physical economy to a digital economy requires a supply-demand matching approach to digital resources and market-creating innovations as mentioned earlier.

“On the aspect of supply, we are working to ensure government services are digital, end-to-end. We are working with National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), to increase enrollment drastically. The identity enrollment database has grown to 54 million. We want to ensure all Nigerians have a digital identity in the coming years. We are providing an enabling environment for last-mile broadband penetration. There are about 150 million internet users with about 42.93% broadband penetration,” the DG affirmed

“On the demand side, we are focusing on digital literacy and the skills required to uptake digital services across different levels of the masses. We are creating activities that will increase the demand for digital content and services by the citizens. Our strategy is to focus more on market-creating innovations that would impact the economy, create massive jobs and lift many Nigerians out of poverty. Ultimately, this principle will reduce corruption in our systems and help us develop as a country,” He added.

In his welcome address,the Conference Coordinator and President of GICN, Mr. Edward  Omaga, said the essence of the conference was to painstakingly appraise the effort of President Muhammadu Buhari led administration towards combating the menace called corruption.

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