The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has raised concerns over the high rate of failed IT projects in the country.
NITDA disclosed that 56 per cent of such projects failed to deliver on their objectives due to poor design, lack of interoperability, and weak oversight structures.
The alarm was raised in a statement on Monday, by the Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, following visits to key accountability offices, including the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation, and the Bureau of Public Procurement, as part of its campaign to enforce compliance with its newly reviewed IT Project Clearance Guidelines.
Inuwa said, ‘56 per cent of IT projects failed to deliver on what were promised because we go for the latest technology, and failure to design before building the technology and lack of consideration for the business value proposition we are trying to deliver with the projects’.
He noted that the revised guidelines were designed to address these shortcomings by ensuring that IT projects undertaken by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are properly designed, implemented, and subjected to quality assurance.
Inuwa explained, ‘We are building a digitised government service and the government is one. We need to work together, work harmoniously, the same way the IT system works to deliver these services. For us to achieve this, we need to be more intentional in the way we design and implement.’
He warned that as long as MDAs continue to design and implement IT solutions in silos, systems will continue to fail.
‘If we continue to design and implement in silos, they will never work together’, he said in the statement.
The new guideline, according to NITDA, outlines three key phases of IT project implementation: Solution Design, Implementation and Quality Assurance.
Going forward, contractors are expected to have certified personnel across these phases before they can be awarded government IT projects.
‘These measures are designed to eliminate corruption, prevent duplication, and ensure that government IT initiatives are structured to create meaningful change, fostering efficiency, equity, and fairness in public service’, the NITDA boss added.
At the Bureau of Public Procurement, the Director General, Adebowale Adedokun, expressed concern over the abuse of IT projects for corrupt practices.
‘We have a huge responsibility with NITDA to avoid corruption, duplication of IT projects and ensure transparency and accountability in the award of IT projects for the Federal Public Institutions.
‘It is disheartening that we are consuming resources that can be deployed to meet other needs of the country and we need to stop this and say no to wastage’, Adedokun stated.
He pointed out that many MDAs adopt IT projects without any standardised framework or bidding documentation, leading to inflated costs and limited oversight.
Adedokun urged NITDA to develop an IT Price Intelligence Template to assist the Bureau in benchmarking costs and to consider service-wide procurement of licences for platforms like Microsoft and Oracle to avoid wastage.
He also stressed the need for capacity building for civil servants in IT roles, warning that without proper training, officials risk being outsmarted by vendors.
In response, both agencies agreed to set up a joint committee to work out implementation modalities and sign a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise their collaboration.
At the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation, Auditor General Shaakaa Kanyitor Chira commended NITDA for initiating the engagement and pledged to conduct a performance audit once the revised policy becomes operational.
Similarly, the Accountant General, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, expressed support for the initiative and assured NITDA of the OAGF’s readiness to integrate the clearance framework into its financial systems.
NITDA stated that the Reviewed IT Project Clearance Guidance Document, which replaces the 2018 guidelines, is aimed at enhancing regulatory oversight, cost-efficiency, and digital alignment across MDAs.
It noted that the clearance process had already saved Nigeria over N300 billion in avoided waste and duplication.
