Sanni Marvelous
The Federal Government has called on state governments across Nigeria to deepen public service reforms and accelerate the adoption of digital governance systems to enhance service delivery, transparency, and accountability.
The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Dasuki Arabi, made the call on Friday in Abuja while receiving a delegation from the Edo State Civil Service led by the Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa.
Arabi said state governments must adopt and replicate the public service reform initiatives currently being implemented by the Federal Government in order to ensure improved governance outcomes across the country.
According to him, the administration of President Bola Tinubu is repositioning the Nigerian public service through strategic reforms, particularly through digital transformation aimed at improving efficiency, transparency, and accountability.
He stressed that reforms implemented at the federal level would only achieve nationwide impact if they are replicated at the subnational level.
“Whatever we do at the federal level, if it is not cascaded down to the states, we will not succeed,” Arabi said.
The BPSR Director-General noted that available data shows the Federal Government employs between 2.7 million and 2.9 million workers, a relatively small proportion compared to Nigeria’s estimated population of over 220 million people.
He noted that the majority of Nigerians interact more with state and local government institutions, making it critical for subnational governments to domesticate and implement public service reforms.
Arabi disclosed that the Bureau is engaging stakeholders across the federation to encourage state governments to establish their own bureaus of public service reforms in line with the directive of President Tinubu.
He added that the initiative aligns with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which places strong emphasis on strengthening governance systems and improving institutional capacity.
The BPSR boss also revealed that the Bureau is collaborating with key stakeholders to promote the adoption of digital technologies that enhance transparency and accountability in public institutions.
According to him, digitalisation of government processes will significantly reduce the cost of governance while enabling citizens to track government activities more efficiently.
Arabi commended the Governor of Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, for demonstrating commitment to public service reform by sending a high-level delegation to the Bureau for institutional learning and knowledge sharing.
The Edo State Head of Service, Okungbowa, said the delegation’s visit was aimed at strengthening collaboration and learning from the Federal Government’s reform initiatives.
He conveyed the appreciation of Governor Okpebholo and the people of Edo State for the opportunity to engage with the Bureau.
According to him, the visit aligns with the state government’s vision to build a modern, efficient and technology-driven civil service capable of delivering quality services to citizens.
Okungbowa disclosed that the Edo State Government had launched the Edo State Public Service Retooling and Enhancement Programme (Edo-PREP), a 38-module reform initiative designed to modernise the civil service.
He said the programme focuses on areas such as e-governance, strategic planning, development of in-service technology experts, service culture enhancement, mentorship programmes and the establishment of a public service digital library.
Okungbowa added that a key component of the reform initiative is the EdoCloud digital governance platform, also known as Edo-Gov 2.0, which is fully owned and managed by the Edo State Government.
He said the platform was developed after a comprehensive review of earlier digitalisation efforts and is designed to be scalable, secure and user-friendly.
According to him, the state recently trained over 200 digital champions drawn from ministries, departments and agencies to drive the implementation of the new system across government institutions.
He added that the digital transformation initiative would improve efficiency by reducing bureaucratic delays in file movement and approvals, lowering operational costs, strengthening transparency and enhancing collaboration among government agencies.
