IT Procurement reforms will strengthen innovation, Nigeria’s digital sovereignty — NITDA

*Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, explains the agency’s series of reforms to strengthen Information Technology procurement are designed to support the Nigerian economy for sustained inclusive growth, improving governance for effective service delivery

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

In its drive to improve confidence in locally developed software and advance the country’s digital sovereignty, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is implementing a series of reforms to strengthen Information Technology (IT) procurement.

ConsumerConnect reports Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of NITDA, disclosed this at the recent 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.

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Inuwa, at the event, spoke during a plenary session with the theme: “Nigeria First, Procurement Last: How E-commerce is Rewriting Contracts”.

The Director-General also noted the reforms are part of NITDA’s efforts at supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda of Reforming the economy for sustained inclusive growth, improving governance for effective service delivery, and accelerating diversification through industrialisation and digitisation.

He stated the measures are also aimed at strengthening public procurement under the Nigeria First Policy, and  ensuring that government investments in technology deliver measurable value while contributing to the growth of the Nigeria Digital Economy.

On value of proposed IT projects

Speaking on the value of proposed Information Technology (IT) projects, Inuwa revealed that between July 2023 and July 2026, NITDA received proposals for 1,092 IT projects from 326 government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), out of over 1,300 MDAs in the the West African country.

He said the proposed projects were valued at over ₦4.24 trillion, while the agency cleared 1,056 projects valued at ₦3.84 trillion.

The NITDA Chief Executive further identified three major reforms the IT sector regulatory agency is implementing to address challenges around project planning, software adoption and digital infrastructure.

Stated he: “The first is the strengthening of the IT Project Clearance Framework, under which MDAs will be required to have a proper solution design before making budgetary provisions for IT projects.”

Inuwa as well affirmed that NITDA would certify companies providing solution design, implementation and quality assurance services, with safeguards to ensure that the three functions are not performed by the same organisation on a single project.

Drawing an analogy with the construction industry, he explained that IT projects should be properly designed before implementation, just as buildings require architectural designs before construction begins.

According to him, the approach will promote standardisation, strengthen accountability, and ensure better value for money in government technology investments.

Update on Software Assurance Framework

The Director-General said the second reform is the Software Assurance Framework, which Inuwa said was being developed to strengthen confidence in locally developed software, and reduce Nigeria’s dependence on off-the-shelf solutions.

Several Nigerian organisations spend significant resources customising software developed for foreign markets to meet local requirements, only to incur additional costs when vendors introduce new versions, he stated.

Inuwa equally affirmed that Nigerian organisations have different business objectives and operational requirements, making it necessary to develop and adopt solutions that respond effectively to local realities.

According to him, NITDA is, therefore, promoting solution design, software testing, standards and assurance, including the licensing of software testing companies to assess locally developed solutions.

Objectives of National Sovereign Cloud Initiative

The third reform, he noted, is linked to NITDA’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative, which seeks to strengthen Nigeria’s digital sovereignty and build the country’s capacity for digital self-determination.

Inuwa explained: “When we talk about digital sovereignty, it’s about us as a nation to build the capability for digital self-determination.”

According to him, the initiative would strengthen Nigeria’s digital public infrastructure and create greater opportunities for locally developed innovations to be built, hosted and scaled within the country.

The Director-General said the framework was designed to provide certification across key segments of the cloud ecosystem, including infrastructure providers and data centres, cloud service providers, system integrators and cloud aggregators, while establishing appropriate requirements for sensitive and critical data.

Beyond technology procurement, Inuwa urged stakeholders to view public procurement as a strategic instrument for building national capabilities, shaping markets and creating opportunities for Nigerian innovators.

He averred: “We look at public procurement not just as a way of government spending money, but as a powerful instrument government has for shaping markets, for building our national capabilities, as well as for creating opportunities for our innovator.”

The NITDA Chief also cited the growth of Nigeria’s FinTech ecosystem as an example of what deliberate policy and market opportunities could achieve.

He, therefore, challenged stakeholders to explore similar opportunities in healthcare, education, agriculture and other sectors.

Inuwa also urged public institutions to rethink how they specify IT requirements, advising them to focus less on prescribing particular technologies and more on clearly defining the problems they seek to solve, the programmes they intend to implement and the outcomes they expect to achieve.

Inuwa emphasised the importance of the legal profession in ensuring that technology contracts adequately address data ownership, data processing and storage, data portability, intellectual property, security and contractual responsibilities.

He added that greater clarity in technology contracts would strengthen the protection of public institutions and improve confidence in government technology investments, while the reforms would ultimately help to position public procurement as a driver of local innovation, digital capacity and Nigeria’s long-term digital sovereignty.