Association Wants ICT Clearance Desk

The Federal Government
has been urged to set up Inter-Ministerial ICT project clearance desk to address duplication of projects and programmes among Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA) in the country.
The President, Abuja Chapter, Information System Audit and Control Association (ISACA), Mr Ikani Yunusa, made the call at the 5th Annual International Conference in Abuja on Tuesday.
Yunusa said the desk was important to eliminate duplication of projects, waste of public funds and unnecessary financial burden on the tax payers.
“I was worried when I learnt of the Federal Road Safety Commission and the Nigeria Police Force competing for who should set up a central Database for Vehicle registration for the country. That shouldn’t be.
“They could do it in such a way that little amount could be spent on it instead of each of the agencies establishing different databases for the same purpose.
“That is a waste. In terms of the software, it is imported. That means Nigeria is spending huge sum of money in two places instead of one. We could do better.
“If this clearance desk is set up, it means all government projects have to go through such clearance desk.
“Then, we can see the linkage between different projects and where they can be harmonised to safe Nigeria the cost,’’ Yunusa said.
Yunusa commended the Auditor-General for the Federation for setting up of “Emerging Audit Department’’ with the mandate to carry out IT and Forensic Audit, among others.
He also encouraged the National Informational Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to continue to work with ISACA to actualise the planned adoption CUBIT5 framework for effective national information assets management.
The Director, IT winners, South Africa, Mr Gary Hardy, called for effective adoption and management of IT at all level of government and sectors to enhance economic development of the country.
Hardy said the future of Nigeria depends on technology and its effective use, urging government establishment and corporate bodies to ensure that IT was properly used in their operations.
“We have great opportunity here in this country, we have big window of opportunities next year because technology is moving fast.