Government must be proactive on e-governance for efficiency – Alasoadura

Speaking while declaring open the “Nigeria Public Sector Productivity and Innovation Summit”, in Abuja, the Minister said Government has made progress in providing essential and social services to the people, using electronic and digital tools and processes.

According to him, the use of e-governance “has made public service delivery far more effective and efficient, and thereby pumping out remarkable Public Sector productivity.

“Deploying such technologies that meet today’s needs and anticipates the future, has brought government closer to the people, especially those who equally have proficiency in the use of information and communication technology”.

He said government needed to be proactive in adopting new technologies to enable it deliver effectively its monitoring, regulatory and oversight responsibilities over the private sector.

In his words, “It would be unimaginable for government to regulate banks and other businesses with technology-oriented business models if government lacked the necessary technology scope”.

He said that although most of the development in technology “are focused on the private sector, the public sector should not be left behind”, as the government has the responsibility of developing and implementing rule-based policies for the private sector to thrive.

He stressed that the essence of the summit is to highlight how these enabling technologies are transforming government productivity and creating the market for new skills, knowledge and jobs in a complementary way, through which government institutions have been able to do more with less while delivering greater output with desirable speed and precision”.

Director-General, National Productivity Centre (NPC), Dr Kashim Akor, said that e-Governance had contributed immensely to public sector productivity in Nigeria.

Akor said Government has been driving productivity, efficiency and transparency using such e-Government deliverables as Treasury Single Account driven by Remita, and Bank Verification Number (BVN), among others.

He stressed that conducting government business online has remarkably cut cost, time and logistics for all stakeholders, adding that the Summit is expected to highlight the relationship between e-Government and Productivity in Nigeria.