Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

The Federal Government in order to reduce the delay in treating files and documents, preventing loss of files and improving access control, has began reforms which include digitalization of establishment, recruitment, learning, and development processes. 

The Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan made this disclosure in her remarks on the occasion of the year 2020 Africa Public Service day celebration held on Tuesday, held virtually.

The National theme for this year’s celebration is “Entrenching Good Governance:  Developing Transparent and Accountable Public Institutions.” According to her, the process is driven through robust partnerships particularly with the private sector and Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), have been directed to digitize files and other records.

The initiative,  Yemi-Esan said is one of the strategies for the establishment of Enterprise Content Management System which incorporates digitization and automation of documents.

She said when fully on stream, the system will support efforts of Government to promote transparency and

accountability.

The Head of Service emphasized on the need to make the Public Service more efficient and effective by leveraging on digitalization and automation for transparency and accountability in service delivery.

She noted that the level of Public enlightenment and interest in government processes and activities underscore the need for Public Servants as service providers to be accountable and transparent. This, she said was necessary to maintain public confidence and trust in the system.

Yemi-Esan, the reforms were in line with President Muhammadu Buhari Administration’s Agenda

for transparency and accountability.

Yemi-Esan also spoke on other milestone reform initiatives championed by the OHCSF to transform the Public Service for improved quality service delivery.

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The reforms include the continued effort at bringing every Public Servant nationwide on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) platform.

According to her, the IPPIS initiative has been able to determine the actual number of serving Public Servants in Nigeria. She added that it has helped in the attainment of projected savings to the tune of N60 to N120 billion from cleaning Human Resource (HR)

data on IPPIS.

The Head of Service also bother that IPPIS has also improved productivity and governance for Human Resource administration across all Human Resource processes such as payroll transfers, promotions, recruitment, and training.

She said: “Quality and speed of service delivery has also been enhanced by reducing administrative cost, increasing transparency, making services more accessible and increasing the ability to make data-driven decisions. Above all economic growth has been enhanced through the channeling of the saved funds to other aspects of service delivery by the government.”

Yemi-Esan revealed that six MDAs are already live on the IPPIS platform, 10 would be live by June, 2020 while the final 19 MDAs are expected to go live by August, 2020.

The HOSF informed that the new Performance Management System is based on the principles of accountability, transparency, equity, and ownership. She stated that every individual, Unit, Department, and Institution in the Public Service shall be held accountable on a continuous basis to ensure that national development goals are met.

In the area of capacity building the HOSF said reviewed modules on induction, Structured Mandatory Assessment Training Program (SMAT-P), as well as the Leadership Enhancement and Development Programme (LEAD-P), have been launched.  Meanwhile, 1,287 officers have been trained under SMAT-P; while the Office is looking at a target of 100% participation.

Yemi-Esan added that change management will play a very crucial role to ensure a smooth transition to a transformed Public Service.

She envisioned that change in behavior from a bureaucratic to an entrepreneurial result-oriented and innovative Civil Service is one of the goals to be embraced and sustained.

Due to the COVID -19 pandemic, the week-long activities usually dedicated to the celebration could not take place this year, in order to observe physical distancing rules and curtail the spread of the virus.