Malam Kashifu Abdullahi, Director General (DG), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said that the use of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) had facilitated in eliminating  ghost workers from government payrolls.

Abdullahi revealed this during the 2021 Pre-Democracy Day conference organized by the Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN) in collaboration with Transparency Advocacy for Development Initiative (TADI) on Friday in Abuja.

The conference whose theme was: “Assessing the impact of President Muhammadu Buhari‘s anti-corruption fight on the Nigerian economy since 2015″ brought together several CSOs, anti-corruption agencies among others.

Abdullahi, represented by Dr Usman Abdullahi, director of IT infrastructure solutions at NITDA, said the use of ICT has also helped the government save a lot of money and made it easier to fight corruption.

According to him, ICTs are essential in the fight against corruption by facilitating the monitoring of activities, thus saving the government billions of naira.

“The implementation of the Treasury Single Account and Bank Verification Number has helped the government save billions of naira, eliminate ghost workers, and make it easier to track and trace government activities, especially the fight against Corruption.

“President Muhammadu Buhari’s agenda is to fight corruption, insecurity, facilitate and diversify the economy and this has been mainly achieved through the use of ICTs.

“Although corruption has not been completely eliminated, it limits it and makes it transparent because transparency and accountability are used.

So if there is a success story for this administration, it is the TSA because it has had a substantial impact. If it weren’t for the TSA, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

“We know the challenges that we have as a country in terms of funds, especially in government, which is why the government is not in a position to do these things.

“So with the little money the government was able to save with the TSA and a lot has been achieved,” he said.

Earlier, Dr Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, highlighted the role that ICTs have played in the fight against corruption in the country.

Pantami, represented by Dr Abimbola Alale, Managing Director / Managing Director of Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT LTD) added that over 23 billion naira has been saved by the ministry on ICT projects under the current administration.

In addition, Mr. Baba Ashiru, Director of the Public and Enlightenment Department at the Independent Corruption Practices Commission (ICPC), said that every individual in the country can participate in the fight against corruption.

Ashiru, represented by ICPC Media and Events Manager Ms Kemebradikum Badejo, noted that Nigerians could be involved in the fight through any of its platforms depending on their preferences, specialties and qualifications.

“We have the cCubs anti-corruption students aimed at elementary and secondary school students. Students Anti-Corruption Vanguard for higher education institutions and the NYSC Anti-Corruption CDS Group.

”We also have the National Anti-Corruption Coalition aimed at NGOs, CSOs, denominational groups
organizations. Anti-corruption and transparency control unit for MDAs functioning as a mini-ICPC with the aim of ensuring a society free of corruption, ”he said.

In his welcoming speech, Chairman of the Board and Chairman of GICN, Edward Omaha, said the conference was called to address the issue of corruption as it affects the Nigerian economy.

Omaha said he also aimed to encourage all to join hands in promoting good governance for sustainable development.

According to him, the recent protests and uprisings in the country have sent clear messages that the people will no longer tolerate cynical and corrupt practices.

He said citizens demanded the transformation of economic, legal and social structures indifferent to accountability.

“There is no doubt that corruption has disproportionately affected women, children and vulnerable people, limiting their access to information and public resources.

“With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, cases abound where inadequate monitoring and / or a lack of transparency on the part of the government agencies concerned have led to the diversion of relief material from those in need to warehouses or private residences.

“These acts of corruption, when discovered, caused massive upheaval on the part of citizens who felt cheated.

“Today’s conference therefore recognizes the need for the government to restore public confidence and confidence in our social contract by taking concrete steps to eliminate corruption,” he said.

NAN