THE enforcement of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), as well as Bank Verification Number (BVN), allow the federal government to save the sum of N24.7billion every month, President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed.
Speaking at the opening of e-Governance Conference organized by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in Abuja on Tuesday, he said over 20,000 accounts have been consolidated under the TSA.
According to him, this has resulted in a monthly savings of N4.7billion.
Buhari added that the implementation of the IPPIS and BVN has enabled the government to eliminate ghost workers and save about N20billion monthly.
He said: “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 in 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.
“Another initiative leveraging on ICT and making a 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 the government over N20 billion monthly.”
He also pointed out the 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.
According to him, 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 the nation’s currency.
He commended 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.
The president explained that 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.
He stated that so far, 31 reforms have been completed by the Council and these reforms are already making a noticeable impact on our economic diversification efforts.
He further said that 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.
He expressed the belief that 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.
“In this respect, I hope this conference will come up with practical, viable solutions and recommendations to further develop local content in ICT as well as how we can best regulate the deployment and use of ICT systems to foster a digital economy in Nigeria,” he said.
The president noted that his presence at the was a demonstration of his administration’s commitment and a strong belief in using ICT as a major driver of its developmental governance and economic reform plans aimed at bringing about the true change the government promised.
While noting that ICT is strategic in driving productivity and efficiency in all sectors of the economy, he observed that currently, almost all sectors of the nation’s economic leverage on ICT to increase efficiency, productivity and performance.
He noted that the sector has recorded huge investments and contributes over 10% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the government is making conscious efforts to see that this contribution continues to grow in the next few years.
President Buhari also observed that theme of the conference, “Fostering a Digital Economy Through Local Content Development and Effective Regulation” was apt, coming at a time when the administration is intensifying its efforts at economic diversification, and ICT has a critical role to play.
He said about 80% of ICT hardware purchases are imported through local distributors of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), by MDAs and other government establishments, saying that “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.”
The president added: “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 the cost of acquisition and increase government revenue.
“There is, therefore, the need for deliberate efforts, both from the 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.”
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