President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said about 20 billion naira is being saved on monthly basis from the introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) as well as the Bank Verification Number (BVN).
According to the President the initiative has not only led to the elimination of the manace of ghost workers from the nation’s public sector, but helped to entrench transparency and accountability within the system.
He also said through the policy on Treasury Single Account (TSA), the present administration has “so far consolidated over 20,000 accounts, resulting into about N4.7 billion monthly savings.”
President Buhari made the remarks while declaring open a three-day eNigeria Conference with the theme “Fostering Digital Economy through Local Content Development and Effective Regulations” organized by the National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
Highlighting some of the achievements of his administration since inception with a particular reference to anti-corruption crusade, President Buhari said his administration leveraged on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) platform to institute about 31 reforms within the system, stressing that the reforms would no doubt bring the desired change to the way and manner the business of government is carried out in the country.
President Buhari who was accompanied by top government officials to the event among whom were the Ministers of Communications and FCT, Adebayo Shittu and Alhaji Musa Bello, the Chairman Senate Committee on ICT, Senator Kabiru Gaya and the Director General of NITDA, Dr Isa Pantami Ibrahim, maintained that ICT remains strategic in driving productivity and efficiency in all sectors of the economy.
His words: ” My presence here today is a demonstration of our commitment and strong belief in using ICT as a major driver of our developmental governance and economic reform plans aimed at bringing about the true CHANGE we promised our people.
“ICT is strategic in driving productivity and efficiency in all sectors of the economy. Currently, almost all sectors of our economy leverage on ICT to increase efficiency, productivity and performance.
“The sector has recorded huge investments and contributes over 10% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and we are making conscious efforts to see that this contribution continues to grow in the next few years.
“About 80% of ICT hardware purchases are imported through local distributors of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) by MDAs and other government establishments. This makes it difficult for us to benefit from the dividends of continuous procurement and consumption of ICT infrastructure and limited value retention within the country.
“As the most populous country in Africa, there are huge opportunities for ICT manufacturing in Nigeria. This, when harnessed, will provide job opportunities for our teaming youths, enhance the quality of locally produced infrastructure, reduce cost of acquisition and increase government revenue.
“There is, therefore, the need for deliberate efforts, both from government as well as the private sector to see to the realisation of this.
“I urge you to come up with viable recommendations on how we can make the country an export hub for ICT hardware in Africa. We have done a lot to transform our government especially in the areas of strategy, policies and digital infrastructure investments”.
The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu in his address said ICT has being a major driver of the nation’s economy since the inception of the present administration, noting that the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has moved from 5 percent to 12 percent by 2016.
Shittu maintained that through legislation , the present government wuld ensure that local ICT industries are protected, while lamenting the low patronage of local industries even by government agencies.
According to Shittu the federal government has issued series of guidelines to protect the ICT industry and prevent Nigeria from becoming a dumping ground for all manner of ICT products and services, but enjoined all stakeholders to partner with the government to ensure sanity in the entire sector.
The Director General of NITDA, said the yearly eNigeria Conference was being organized by his agency to take stocks of development in the ICT industry with a view ensure effective regulation, job creation, improvement in services and products of ICT by local companies and ensure the security of the nation’s cyber system.