Information Communication Technology
The Federal Government has said that the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) has been able to help it to save N24.7billion monthly.
It said government via the Information Communication Technology (ICT) methods has also been able to facilitate the elimination of ghost workers on its pay roll among other wastes.
President Muhammadu Buhari who gave the indication at the e-Nigeria 2017 conference organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in Abuja, yesterday said government has consolidated over 20,000 accounts, resulting into a monthly savings of about N4.7 billion.
The President explained that the implementation of the IPPS and the Bank Verification Number (BVN) has gone a long way to aid to Government to save another N20 billion monthly.He noted that government’s recent Executive Order which mandated all ministries, departments and agencies to give preference to locally manufactured goods and services in their procurement of ICT services has also contributed immensely.
He however lamented that about 80% of ICT hardware purchases were still being imported through local distributors of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) by MDAs and other government establishments.
He said that this has made it difficult for the government to benefit from the dividends of continuous procurement and consumption of ICT infrastructure and limited value retention within the country.
Further, the President noted that there are huge opportunities for ICT manufacturing in Nigeria, adding that when harnessed, will provide job opportunities for the teaming Nigerian youths, enhance the quality of locally produced infrastructure, reduce cost of acquisition and increase government revenue.He said “we have done a lot to transform our government especially in the areas of strategy, policies and digital infrastructure investments.
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“You may recall that on assumption of office, we enforced the policy on Treasury Single Account (TSA). Today, we are all witnesses to the impact it has made on our financial management.“We have so far consolidated over 20,000 accounts, resulting into about N4.7 billion monthly savings. In addition the policy facilitated transparency, accountability and ease of transactions and payments between Government and businesses as well as Government and citizens, he added.
Continuing, he said that “another initiative leveraging on ICT and making huge impact on the economy is the introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and Bank Verification Number (BVN). Its implementation has helped to eliminate the menace of ghost workers thereby reducing waste in the system by saving government over N20 billion monthly.
“This administration recently issued an Executive Order mandating all ministries, departments and agencies to give preference to locally manufactured goods and services in their procurement of information technology services.“Such measures are part of the deliberate efforts at encouraging local manufacture of ICT infrastructure, creating job opportunities.providing investment opportunities as well as strengthening our currency.
We commend NITDA’s efforts on fostering the patronage of indigenous IT products and services through continuous engagement with indigenous OEMs, relevant stakeholders and other laudable initiatives.
“ICT plays a pivotal role with agencies of government such as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) which have leaned on ICT in improving public service delivery in an efficient and transparent manner. So far, 31 reforms have been completed by the Council and these reforms are already making noticeable impact on our economic diversification efforts.
“The Agency’s efforts at enforcing Federal Government’s directive on ensuring that all ICT projects in the country are cleared by it before implementation are highly commendable.
“These efforts will ensure that government’s ICT procurements are transparent, they are aligned with government’s IT shared vision and policy, save costs through promotion of shared services, avoid duplication, ensure compatibility of IT systems thereby improving efficiency across government and enforce the patronage of indigenous companies,” he stated.
Source: G Business
