Stakeholders at the 2026 ITGOV Summit have called for stronger collaboration between the public and private sectors to accelerate the development of a trusted, secure and inclusive Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), describing it as essential for economic growth, improved governance and national security.
The summit, organised by Tranter IT in partnership with ManageEngine in Abuja, focused on the theme, “Building Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure for Economic Growth, Security and Government Efficiency”. It brought together government officials, technology experts and industry leaders to discuss strategies for advancing Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda.
Speaking, the Director-General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Dr Abisoye Coker-Odusote said DPI built on trust would drive economic growth, strengthen national security and improve governance.
She described DPI as the foundation of modern economies, saying that a trusted digital identity system was central to its success.
“Without a professional DPI, governments will continue to struggle to deliver services effectively, financial institutions will face heightened risks. “Businesses will suffer unnecessary costs and marginalised businesses may be excluded from the global economy,” she said.
Dr Coker-Oduote noted that a trusted digital identity system would improve transparency in governance by ensuring that government services and social intervention programmes reached the intended beneficiaries promptly.
She said the enactment of the NIMC Act of 2026 had created a shift in its responsibilities, adding that it empowered the commission to provide legal and institutional framework for secure authentication, electronic signatures and digital trust services across sectors.
She further said the country needed a comprehensive, interoperable and inclusive identity ecosystem that supported every Nigerian and enabled seamless access to public and private services, while ensuring privacy and security by design.
According to her, a verified identity ecosystem is also one of the country’s strongest tools against identity theft, cybercrime, financial fraud and terrorism financing.
“It strengthens law enforcement through more precise investigations while safeguarding citizens’ privacy, supports intelligence gathering and improves national resilience against emerging digital threats,” she said.
She added that countries with robust DPI attracted more domestic and foreign investments because businesses operated more efficiently and securely.
In his remarks, the Associate Director of ManageEngine, Mr Solomon Raj, said Nigeria remained one of Africa’s most important technology markets.
Raj said the company would support the implementation of National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020–2030) through solutions that would strengthen cybersecurity, improve IT management and promote seamless collaboration across government institutions.
Also speaking, the executive Chairman of Tranter IT, Dr Emmanuel Olarewaju, said participants at the summit would examine strategies for implementing digital solutions in identity management, cyber security, network management, customer service and IT governance.
Olarewaju said digitising government services would significantly reduce processing time, eliminate unnecessary physical visits to government offices and improve citizens’ access to public services.
“When it comes to implementing solutions, the time to deliver service will be minimised, where you have some processes taking about three months, it would be reduced to one week because all the information will be collected online.
“Citizens do not have to queue up at different government offices but can simply go online and achieve the same objective,” he said.
According to him, the increased adoption of digital platforms also makes effective cyber security and robust data management essential to safeguarding citizens’ information and ensuring compliance with privacy regulations.
He added that digital transformation would improve the ease of doing business, boost government revenue collection and support data-driven decision-making.
