Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti says his government is committed to embracing technology for government operations in the State.
Gov. Otti who was speaking on Wednesday during a meeting with officials of the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) PLC. in his office said that digitalisation is a non-negotiable pathway for effective and efficient governance and service delivery.
“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,” Gov. Otti stated.
The Governor highlighted the ongoing digital reforms in Abia State, pointing out that the government’s land administration system has already been fully digitised from application to Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to actual issuance.
He said that as it is today, he approves C of Os digitally even from his desk; without papers or files, saying that, “this aligns perfectly with where we’re headed,” he said.
The Governor, who expressed willingness of his government in the digitisation process, recommended 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).
Speaking earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of CSCS, Alhaji Haruna Waziri said that 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 digitalise or to suggest to the government to digitalise their operations.
“But more importantly, is that as part of this exchange group, we realise 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,” Waziri stated.
Also, an Executive Director at CSCS, Mr. 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.
