The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) have unveiled a Joint Task Force on Digital Governance and Anti-Corruption to tackle graft in government technology projects across the country.
The collaboration was announced at ICPC’s headquarters in Abuja during a high-level visit by NITDA’s management team led by Director General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, according to a statement by NITDA’s Director of Corporate Communications, Hajiya Hadiza Umar. The new task force will focus on spotting and reducing corruption risks in public-sector IT projects, strengthening enforcement, and using technology to improve service delivery.
Abdullahi also disclosed plans to create functional websites for all 774 local government councils to boost transparency, accountability, and citizen participation at the grassroots. He noted that only 10 councils currently have working websites—an untenable gap in a digital era—adding that the absence of local-level digital footprints slows services and erodes public trust.
Reviewing progress to date, Abdullahi said that between 2017 and 2023, NITDA cleared more than 1,480 IT projects worth over ₦3.4 trillion across 326 federal institutions, saving the government upwards of ₦316 billion through tighter oversight and alignment with national digital policies. However, he observed that only about 28% of federal institutions currently comply with the mandatory IT project clearance process.
To raise the bar, NITDA will issue fresh guidelines, including certification requirements for IT designers and implementers, to ensure projects are secure, interoperable, and efficient.
ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Aliyu, welcomed the partnership, warning that corruption in IT procurement damages public confidence and slows economic growth. He emphasized that local governments are closest to citizens and that the lack of online transparency raises serious accountability concerns. Publishing budgets, projects, and activities on council websites, he said, would enable citizens to track performance and deter misconduct.
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