The National e-Government Strategies Ltd (NeGSt) has said the Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (TAS) software solution, which it launched this week will help all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government, including the private sector organizations, to curb corruption.
The Executive Vice Chairman, National eGovernment Strategies Ltd, Dr. Felix Obada, said the TAS solution, which has a complete local content, was developed by Nigerians who have attained global IT certifications, for the purpose of blocking financial loopholes, put a stop to capital flights and end corruption in the country.
According to Obada, the present government led by President Muhammadu Buhari, has good intentions to fight corruption, but does not have the supporting technology tools that will block financial loopholes, which he said, TAS was developed to achieve.
Project Manager, NeGSt Ltd, Mr. Ufot Abasiono, who presented the keynote paper at the virtual conference, titled: ‘How Nigeria Moved Government Business from Analogue to Digital Technology’, said shortly after Independence in 1960, corruption was not noticed in government and in the private sector, and the value of naira was still strong, a situation that attracted bilateral relationships between Nigeria and the rest of the world. He, however, said corruption gradually crept into the system and spread beyond the control of government.
He further explained that corruption persisted and lingered for too long, because successive governments have not found the right technology solution, adding that TAS, which has undergone a successful pilot test, was designed to help government and the private organisations, eliminate financial corrupt practices among Nigerians.
“With Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa and with the largest population of young people in the world, the country is well positioned to develop a formidable digital economy estimated to yield approximately $1.0 trillion, but corruption has however remained an albatross on the neck of Nigerians,” Obada said.
“Having achieved great success with the pilot project, NeGSt is set to boldly fulfill her mandate and help Nigeria address her issues of endemic corruption and inefficiency in the delivery of government services with the launch of TAS.
“Working with the present generation of young, energetic and talented Nigerians, NeGSt is ready to replicate the template of the highly successful pilot project and help government and the people of Nigeria to do away with corruption and inefficiency in government businesses across the board,” Obada added.
Giving details of the solution, Obada said TAS is a technology tool that will assist government agencies to synchronize their software applications with other existing software applications. “Government agencies and most private organisations deploy solutions that are in silos and cannot synchronize with other solutions, which gave rise to corruption because applications were running in silos. But with TAS as a software solution, it can conveniently align and connect with other solutions within and outside of the agency and organisation. If this is put in place, it will end financial leakages and other corrupt practices.
When solutions run in silos, they encourage inflation of contracts and leads to over bloated invoices, Obada said.
“With the adoption of TAS, our money will remain within the Nigerian economy and government will not have need to borrow from outside of the country to support national projects. We are putting the TAS solution at the disposal of all Nigerians in order to return Nigerians to the old good days where corruption was not known,” Obada added.
He promised that NeGSt would work with all MDAs, using TAS to improve the finances of government and the private sector organisations. “With TAS, there will be transparency in government and NeGSt will use the position of its mandate in implementing e-Government strategies, to ensure successful adoption of TAS across government agencies, Obada said.
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