The Public Accounts Committees of Nigeria's Federal bicameral legislature audit the annual reports of over 800 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government. The troves of paper work involved in the process made the task quite challenging.
Accordingly, today, at the unveiling of the electronic documents management system to acknowledge the receipt and value of the tools, Senator Gbolahan Dada, Vice Chairman Senate Public Accounts Committee and member of Senate Committee on Communications, accorded NCC a special and historical recognition for supporting the Committee's determination to migrate to automated sphere in the management of one of its core responsibilities and by that very fact demonstrating a clear commitment to the cause of enthroning transparency, accountability and good governance.
Abraham Oshadami, Head of Information Technology at NCC, who made the presentation and received the recognition plaque on behalf of Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of the Commission, thanked the legislative stakeholders for the recognition accorded the Commission.
Honourable Kingsley Chinda, Chairman House Public Accounts Committee, spoke glowingly about the valuable role played by the NCC in making the automation project a reality, and further commended the NCC for its role in driving the digital transformation agenda of the current administration.
Chinda noted that: “with the current deployment of technology within the Committee hearing room, each member of the committee can sit in front of a computer to read and review submissions as well as responses instead of having to manually flip through and study voluminous annual reports submitted by MDAs.”
Confirming that the donations by the NCC have been received earlier, Chinda affirmed that with the provision of the ICT tools by the NCC and the support of other donor organisations, the consultants engaged by the PAC has completely digitised all existing documents including reports and responses of over 800 MDAs submitted in the last seven years. He also recalled the challenges PAC faced in carrying out its responsibilities prior to the donation of the computers in order to underscore the gratitude of the Committee about the donation. He concluded by declaring that the Committee would no longer accept submission of hard copies of audited reports from MDAs.
Besides the NCC, other organisations that received PAC’s recognition for supporting the implementation of the migration to automation by the Committee, include the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) - which hosted the Committee's website, the British Department for International Development (DFID), the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), as well as the Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL).
Stakeholders at the well-attended event unanimously agreed that the digitisation of the public accounts audit system by PAC at the National Assembly will help to simplify the workflow, reduce time spent on manual auditing, boost efficiency and increase productivity.