By Dwelleth Morountodun
The National Information Technology Agency (NITDA) on Wednesday said the streamlining of Information Technology procurement
process across Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) saved federal government N13 billion.
The agency however warned MDAs to comply with the process of procuring IT projects which is now considered a criminal offence, punishable under the NITDA Act 2007.
In a statement made available to the media on Wednesday, the Director General of the agency, Mr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, said the the agency in line with its mandate to regulate the practice of Information Technology in the public sector, issued statement in 2016 calling on MDAs to submit for clearance IT Projects to be executed before commencement of such projects.
The clearance process, he said is designed to track government spending in IT and ensure synergy in national investments, ensure the availability of accurate statistics on government’s IT assets and investments to help government make informed IT decisions, prevent mismanagement of public funds and development of projects in silos where significant resources can be integrated to save costs, promote shared services, interoperability and improve efficiency and ensure that the technology being implemented is up to date and suitable for the country from the point of view of security and the environment.
He said IT projects clearance regulation is designed to ensure that IT projects are properly conceptualized and executed in line with global best practices.
Furthermore, it is designed to support the present fight against corruption by curbing the wastages and mismanagement of public funds on frivolous IT projects.
The unanimous verdict of MDAs that have gone through the process is that, in addition to compliance with government’s directives the process facilitated a saving of over N13 billion to government.
The automation of the process enhances transparency, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness in the process of obtaining clearance, Pantami said.
MDAs according to him are expected to submit their projects via the IT Projects clearance portal.
He recalled that a federal government circular 59736/S.2C.II/125 of 31st August, 2018 and signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, mandates all MDAs to submit their IT Projects for clearance by NITDA.