PFIPC Scandal: Arewa Forum Urges FG To Fast-Track Digital Governance Across MDAs

The Arewa Professional Forum (APF) has called on the federal government to fast-track the adoption of digital governance and a paperless administrative system across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), saying the controversy surrounding the fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) highlights the urgent need to strengthen institutional processes through technology.

In a statement issued and signed by its National President, Comrade Auwal Muhammed, the Forum said the focus should be on consolidating ongoing public service reforms that leverage digital technology to eliminate administrative weaknesses, rather than dwelling on assigning blame over the PFIPC incident.

According to the APF, the controversy should serve as a wake-up call for government institutions to phase out manual processes that often create room for poor documentation, verification challenges and administrative delays.

The Forum commended the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, for driving reforms aimed at transforming the Federal Civil Service through digital innovation, automation and the implementation of a paperless governance system.

It noted that over the past two years, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has rolled out one of Nigeria’s most ambitious public sector digital transformation programmes through initiatives such as the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) System, GovMail and the 1-GOV Cloud Platform.

According to the APF, these initiatives are gradually replacing cumbersome paper-based procedures with secure digital platforms that enhance transparency, accountability, efficient record management, faster decision-making and seamless communication among government agencies.

The Forum argued that a fully digitised system for official communications, approvals and records management would significantly reduce administrative lapses by creating verifiable audit trails, strengthening institutional accountability and improving transparency across public institutions.

It further stated that expanding digital transformation across all MDAs would make procedural shortcomings easier to detect, monitor and prevent while boosting public confidence in government institutions.

“It is precisely because of challenges such as these that the Head of the Civil Service has consistently championed the vision of a technology-driven and paperless Federal Civil Service,” the statement said.

The APF also said the benefits of the ongoing reforms are already evident across the country, particularly in Northern Nigeria, where federal institutions have recorded improvements in electronic correspondence, digital service delivery, online examinations, merit-based recruitment processes, payroll integrity, digital performance management and capacity-building programmes.

The Forum stressed that digital governance remains essential to improving service delivery in key sectors such as education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure and public administration, noting that technology-driven systems are critical to effective government coordination.

It maintained that no modern government can continue to rely largely on manual administrative processes while aspiring to global standards of transparency, efficiency and accountability.

The APF therefore urged the federal government to sustain and expand digital transformation initiatives across all MDAs, insisting that reforms being championed by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation should be strengthened rather than overshadowed by isolated administrative controversies.

It added that embracing digital governance nationwide would enhance institutional integrity, improve collaboration among government agencies, protect official records and position Nigeria’s public service as a more transparent, efficient and accountable institution capable of meeting the demands of a modern economy.