President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that the federal government is saving a total of N24.7 billion monthly as a result of the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the elimination of ghost workers from the country’s civil service.
Speaking yesterday at the opening of the e-Nigeria Conference in Abuja, the president directed the organisers of the conference, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to report any ministry, department and agency (MDA) that fails to clear its IT projects with it before implementation.
According to him, the contribution of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had increased from 10 per cent in 2017 to 11.8 per cent by the second quarter of 2018.
“The enforcement of the use of the policy on TSA, the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System and the Bank Verification Number and the impact they have made on the administration’s public financial management reforms cannot be overemphasised.
“In addition to the consolidation of accounts and elimination of ghost workers that resulted in a combined monthly savings of about N24.7 billion, the TSA facilitated the recovery of huge sums of money including the recent N1.6 billion from a single account.
“You may recall that in my address at last year’s event, I raised a number of issues relating to ICT’s role in fostering the digital economy in Nigeria, including the sector’s contribution of about 10 per cent of the nation’s GDP.”
“I am pleased to note that this has been taken seriously and stakeholders’ efforts resulted in ICT emerging as one of the key performers of the second quarter of 2018 by recording 11.81 per cent growth,” Buhari explained.
Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, revealed that broadband penetration in the country had increased from 10 per cent in 2014 to 23 per cent by October 2018.
