President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the Federal Government has leveraged information and communication technology (ICT) as well as the enforcement of bank verification number (BVN) to make monthly savings of about N24.7 billion.
The president disclosed this when he declared open the 2017 eNigeria Conference, organised by National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, Tuesday.
The president also revealed that the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) had eliminated ghost workers and reduced waste, thereby saving the nation N20 billion monthly.
He said that the consolidation of 20,000 accounts had saved the nation N4.7 billion.
According to him, the TSA policy has also facilitated transparency, accountability and ease of transactions and payments between government and businesses as well as government and citizens.
“We have done a lot to transform our government, especially in the areas of strategy, policies and digital infrastructure investments.
“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,” he said.
He noted that government has so far consolidated over 20,000 accounts, resulting in about N4.7 billion monthly savings, adding that 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 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 further said.
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President Buhari described his presence at the event as a demonstration of his commitment and strong belief in using ICT as a major driver of developmental governance and economic reform plans aimed at bringing about the true CHANGE his administration promised Nigerians.
According to him, ICT is strategic in driving productivity and efficiency in all sectors of the economy.
He noted that currently, almost all sectors of the nation’s economy leverage ICT to increase efficiency, productivity and performance.
The President 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.
He observed that ICT played 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).
He stated that the affected agencies had 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 a 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 procurement is transparent,” he noted.
