The National Information Technology Development Agency has sought the support of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, and the Bureau of Public Procurement to harness huge revenue potential in information technology projects clearance across ministries, departments, and agencies.
In a statement on Monday by NITDA spokesperson, Haija Hadiza Umar, the agency’s director general, Kashifu Abdullahi, made the call when he visited the three MDAs recently.
Abdullahi said partnership across MDAs is key to the actualisation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda on digital transformation.
“And we need to explore how we can strengthen our partnerships and collaborations in line with the President’s agenda,”;; he said.
He revealed that 56 percent of IT projects failed to deliver due to inadequate due diligence.
“56 percent of IT projects failed to deliver on what was promised because we go for the latest technology, and failure to design before building the technology and lack of consideration for the business value proposition we are trying to deliver with the projects,”;; he stated.
Abdullahi noted that, “We are building a digitised government service, and government is one. We need to work together, work harmoniously, the same way an IT system works to deliver these services. For us to achieve this, we need to be more intentional in the way we design and implement. And if we continue to design and implement in silos, they will never work together.”;;
Responding, the Bureau of Public Procurement DG, Adebowale Adedokun, emphasised the significance of standardising IT project bidding documents.
He noted that, “it is disheartening that organisations misuse IT projects to syphon public funds—resources that could otherwise be channelled towards impactful initiatives that can transform the country.”;;
He disclosed that MDAs come with IT projects that were adopted without standardisation and guidelines, “but with this new guideline our decision should pave the way for the development of the IT sector of the country.”;;
