By Dele Ogbodo
The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami,
on Monday revealed that the agency has saved N3 billion for government through streamlining the procurement process of Ministries, Departments and Agencies procuring information technology projects and equipment.
Mrs. Hadiza Umar, the agency’s Head of Media and External Relations in a statement on behalf of her boss which was made available to Sharpedgenews online in Abuja, said it has become impossible to duplicate projects procurement.
The statement read “NITDA saved federal government on a single cleared IT Project of an agency through its commitment as the government’s clearinghouse for all Information Technology (IT) procurement in Ministries, Departments and Agencies.”
According to the DG, amid the growing concerns about the mismanagement of huge investment of public funds on IT projects in MDAs, NITDA has offered a glimmer of hope that the government shall be getting a handle on wasteful and duplicative IT procurement and services in MDAs.
Pantami said: “As an unbiased watchdog of government, the agency will ensure that there is transparency, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness in the process of obtaining clearance from NITDA targeted at extracting maximum value from MDAs’ investments on IT projects.”
According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari, has called for strict compliance to the IT project’s clearance directive by all government establishments to ensure that governments ICT procurements are transparent, align with government’s IT shared vision and policy.
He stressed that this mechanism will save costs through promotion of shared services, avoid duplication, ensure interoperability of IT systems and improve efficiency across government, enforce the patronage of indigenous companies where capacity exist.