Abia State Government To Digitalize Government Operations

The Executive Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti has restated his administration’s commitment to embracing technology in running government operations in the state, adding that digitalization is a non-negotiable pathway for effective and efficient governance and service delivery.

Governor Otti reaffirmed this on Tuesday when he received officials of the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc.

The governor used the medium to highlight some of the digital reforms in his government with emphasis on the state’s land administration system which according to him has been fully digitalized, application to issuance of Certificate of Occupancy.

According to him, the approval for the Certificate of Occupancy is now done digitally from his desk without papers.

“We must continue to innovate and integrate systems. Truth be told, if you don’t embrace technology, it will leave you behind.”

“Even technology companies become irrelevant if they don’t move with the times.”

The Governor, expressed the willingness of his government in the digitisation process, while recommending a follow-up technical session, involving the Secretary to the State Government, Head of Service, Chief Information Officer, and Commissioner for Science, Technology, and Innovation.

He expressed satisfaction with CSCS’s proposal to support the State Government with an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS).

Earlier in his speech, the Chief Executive Officer of CSCS, Alhaji Haruna Waziri said the organisation had evolved from handling client settlements to building tech infrastructure for seamless document digitisation and market integration.

“We also provide digital services to State Government and partners. And, we felt that at this stage, with the leadership of Dr. Alex Otti, it is just right to partner and start doing this.

“So, we are here to partner to build solutions to be able to help the people of Abia State and the government of Abia State.

“There are two parts to this visit. We are here for a project, which is to digitalize or to suggest to the government to digitalize their operations.”

“But more importantly, is that as part of this exchange group, we realize that Abia State people are also very savvy about investment. There are a lot of companies in Abia State that need guidance around succession planning.”

“As you know, many companies in Nigeria, they don’t go beyond one generation of wealth. Now, what we’re trying to do is to bring together the exchange communities and the advisors, to come to Abia State and talk to the entrepreneurs of the State to see how they can build their businesses, raise money and become bigger companies and by extension, be more sustainable.”

On his part, an Executive Director at CSCS, Adeyinka Shonekan, cited successful digitisation projects for Edo Government, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigerian Television Authority, Polaris Bank, and several universities.

He said that CSCS uses a system called “M-Files” to support all business processes for data and workflow management, and assured of their commitment to partnering the State Government.