Umar Kaltungo
President Buhari had recently approved the appointment of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya as a member of the Presidential Council on Digital Economy and E-government.
According to an issued press statement by Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, on the inauguration ceremony yesterday, the notice of his appointment was contained in a letter signed by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, which described Gombe State as critical to the success of Nigeria’s Digital Economy Agenda.
It said that the constitution of the Presidential Council was in an effort to implement the National Digital Economy Policy (NDEPS) and the Nigerian E-government Master Plan (NEGMP).
The statement further stated that President Muhammadu Buhari promised that his administration will continue to take advantage of digital technologies to transform every sector of the economy.
The President directed the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) to chair the Council on his behalf and give regular updates.
He tasked members of the Council to work towards further strengthening the capacity of government to develop, adopt and deploy digital technologies to make government more efficient and transparent, thereby improving Nigeria’s global standing in the ease of doing business index.
The President noted that the Council, whose members have been arrived at after a painstaking and thorough process, would provide the oversight needed to bring about a veritable structure for accelerating achievements in digital economy and in the implementation of e-government in the country.
He enjoined every member of the Council to consider the task as a national assignment and justify the trust reposed in their ability to support and significantly enhance the digital transformation of Nigeria.
Furthermore, President Buhari expressed delight that the approval of the National Policy on Virtual Engagements for Federal Public Institutions has helped to formalise government online meetings.
He noted that statutory meetings like the Federal Executive Council (FEC), Council of State, and other meetings can now effectively and legally take place online.
He added that Nigeria’s progress in e-governance has been noted by the international community, eliciting recognition from international stakeholders including the appointment of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy as the Chairman of the 2022 Forum of the highly regarded World Summit of the Information Society.
While congratulating the Minister, the President acknowledged that the Ministry has partnered with the Korea International Cooperation Agency to develop a National e-government Master Plan, approved by FEC in August 2019.
The President listed benefits from the partnership including; “the training of over 1,400 Nigerian public servants in both Nigeria and South Korea on e-governance; the launching of an E-Government Training Centre handed over to the Federal Government in November 2019 and the signing off of Phase II of the e-government Project – “Project for Building Foundations Towards Digital Governance in Nigeria (2020-2026)”.
In his remarks, Prof. Pantami noted that NDEPS launched in 2019, made provision for the establishment of the Presidential Council to coordinate the development of an indigenous digital economy.
Describing the implementation of NDEPS for a digital Nigeria as very successful, the Minister said in the last two years, the sector has provided ICT intervention to no fewer than 1,667 institutions at the Federal and sub-national levels.
He added that the recent auctioning of spectrums by the Ministry generated over 400 per cent revenue to the Federal Government coffers while two virtual institutions established by government have trained some 500,000 Nigerian on digital and emerging technologies.
The 27-man committee chaired by Pantami on behalf of the President has the following members: Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, Governor of Gombe State; Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State; Abdullahi Sule, Governor of Nasarawa State; Godwin Obaseki, Governor of Edo State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State and Senator Hope Uzodinma, Governor of Imo State.
Others are Dr. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, Head of Civil Service of the Federation; Prof. Umar G. Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO Nigerian Communications Commission; Prof. M.B Abubakar, Managing Director/CEO, Galaxy Backbone Limited; Dr. Abimbola Alale, Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited and Engr Aliyu A. Aziz, Director General/CEO, National Identity Management Commission.
Also in the committee are Mr. Oswald Osaretin Guobadia, Senior Special Assistant, (Digital Transformation) to the President; Engr Olufemi Olufeko, Director, e-Government Dept, Federal Ministry Of Communications and Digital Economy; A.B. Okauru, Director General, Nigeria Governors Forum; Prof. Simon Adesina Sodiya, President Nigeria Computer Society and Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).
Other members are Prof. Kabiru Bala, Representative of Academia and Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaira; Prof. Nnenna Oti, Representative of the Academia and Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri and Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Secretary and the Director General/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency.
Mr. Sungil Son, Country Director (KOICA), Dr Olufemi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant (Research & Development) to Hon. Minister of Communication & Digital Economy and Abubakar A. Dahiru, Special Assistant (Cyber Security & Digital Identity) to the Minister are also members of the Committee.
