By Lucy Ogalue
The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has called for stronger digital integration among Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to improve governance efficiency and ease of doing business in Nigeria.
The Director-General of PEBEC, Princess Zahra Audu, made the call during the Retreat for Heads of MDAs and MDA Reform Champions in Abuja on Monday.
The theme of the retreat is, “From Collaboration to Integration: Digitalising Government Services through Shared Systems and Data”.
Audu said the council was promoting interconnectivity among agencies to reduce duplication, improve efficiency and ensure seamless service delivery for citizens and businesses.
According to her, PEBEC had grouped MDAs into clusters based on operational interdependence to ensure policies and reforms align with government objectives.
“We identify the gaps and then we create the solutions to fix those gaps.
“The council will collaborate with agencies including National Information Technology Development Agency and Galaxy Backbone on digital integration,” she said.
Earlier, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Sen. Ibrahim Hadejia, said Nigeria could no longer afford fragmented institutional processes and outdated service delivery systems that weaken productivity and reduced investor confidence.
Hadejia said the retreat theme reflected the need for coordinated service delivery, shared digital platforms and real-time collaboration among MDAs.
He added that the administration of President Bola Tinubu remained committed to building a transparent, technology-enabled and innovation-driven public sector capable of supporting Nigeria’s broader economic transformation agenda.
The Commissioner for Finance at the National Pension Commission, Dr Charles Emukowhate, said digital reforms had simplified pension registration, compliance certification and retirement benefit processing.
Emukowhate said President Tinubu had approved and cleared outstanding pension liabilities worth N758billion under the Renewed Hope Agenda, describing it as unprecedented in Nigeria’s history.
Also, the Country Director of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Mrs Obianuju Uchenna, said digital public infrastructure could reduce governance costs by up to 60 per cent through seamless data sharing across agencies.
Uchenna said Nigeria should prioritise integrating critical agencies and gradually expand digital interoperability across sectors including agriculture, education and health.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Wale-Smatt Oyerinde, stressed the importance of skills development in strengthening SMEs and supporting economic growth.
Oyerinde said NECA, in partnership with the Industrial Training Fund and Microsoft, was training young Nigerians in technical and artificial intelligence skills to improve productivity and competitiveness.
The Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission, Olusegun Omosehin, said digitalisation had become mandatory in the insurance sector following the enactment of the Insurance Industry Reform Act 2025.
Omosehin said automation would improve insurance penetration, customer access and service delivery, adding that consumers would increasingly purchase insurance products digitally.
The Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Mr Adeyemi Adeniran, said the bureau was implementing an integrated administrative data system to improve data sharing among MDAs.
Adeniran said the initiative would reduce the cost of data production and improve evidence-based policymaking through the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Francis Onyeukwu
