NITDA, ICPC Establish Joint Task Force .... To Strengthen Enforcement of IT Project Compliance and Combat Corruption in Government ICT Investments

"Many Federal Public Institutions (FPIs) have procured technological solutions without proper clearance, leading to duplication of efforts, inflated costs, weak technical standards, and in many cases, total project failure." Inuwa 

A Joint Task Force on Digital Governance and Anti-Corruption has been created to tackle corruption risks associated with government IT projects, strengthen enforcement of the IT Project Clearance mandate, and ensure that technology becomes a tool for service delivery.

The task force is the creation of two government agencies; the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

Announcing at the ICPC Headquarters in Abuja is Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi CCIE, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency NITDA, when he paid a high-level courtesy call to the ICPC Chairman.

The visit of the NITDA DG underscores the determination of both agencies to align their mandates in support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and his directive to build a $1 Trillion economy, powered by digital transformation, ease of doing business, and elimination of corruption as a barrier to growth.

According to the NITDA DG, "Over the past two decades, billions of naira have been lost to either failed or abandoned government IT projects."

He noted that, "Many Federal Public Institutions (FPIs) have procured technological solutions without proper clearance, leading to duplication of efforts, inflated costs, weak technical standards, and in many cases, total project failure.

He further disclosed that "A number of these projects, often worth billions of naira individually, have either failed to deliver value to citizens or were abandoned after partial implementation. Others have become avenues for corruption through contract splitting, use of unregistered contractors, and deliberate circumvention of due process.

"This pattern has not only wasted scarce public resources but also eroded public trust in the government’s ability to digitize services, improve transparency, and reduce the cost of governance.

"The NITDA IT Project Clearance process was designed to address these risks by ensuring that government IT projects are properly vetted, aligned with national standards, interoperable, and provide value for money. However, compliance has remained a challenge, with some FPIs and contractors attempting to bypass the process. This non-compliance has been identified by ICPC as a corruption risk that requires enforcement." Inuwa revealed.

The Joint Task Force will serve as an enforcement mechanism, combining NITDA’s technical oversight role with ICPC’s investigative and prosecutorial powers. Its mandate will include:

● Enforcement of IT Clearance: Ensuring all FPIs obtain mandatory IT Project Clearance before embarking on technology projects, with ICPC providing enforcement where violations occur;

● Monitoring and Sanctioning: Jointly monitoring IT projects and sanctioning defaulting FPIs, in accordance with extant regulations; and

● Integration of Enforcement Tools: Embedding NITDA’s monitoring instruments into ICPC frameworks such as the System Study & Review, the Ethics & Integrity Scorecard, and other anti-corruption tools to institutionalize compliance.

The Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, stressed the importance of IT Project Clearance as a national safeguard, designed to track Government spending in IT, ensure synergy in national investments in IT and prevent development of projects in silos where significant resources can be shared by FPIs. That the IT clearance regulation is designed to ensure that IT projects are properly conceptualized and executed in line with global best practices, ensuring value-for-money investments, reducing duplication, and creating a unified digital government.

The ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, while welcoming the collaboration, noted that "corruption in IT procurement undermines both public trust and economic progress." 

He emphasized ICPC’s readiness to use its statutory powers to support NITDA’s mandate and hold both contractors and public officials accountable."

Both leaders agreed that the Joint Task Force will serve as a model of inter-agency collaboration, ensuring that digital transformation in government is free of corruption, efficient, aligned with Nigeria’s development goals and global best practices.

The establishment of the Joint Task Force, according to a statement by the Director, Corporate Communications & Head, Media and Publicity Media Relations Department, NITDA, Mrs Hadiza Umar and her counterpart at the ICPC, Dr (Mrs) Anike Adeshina, "represents a decisive step toward addressing systemic corruption risks in government IT projects. The initiative will ensure that Nigeria’s digital transformation efforts deliver real value to citizens and support the President’s vision of a modern, transparent, and competitive economy".