The Federal Government has announced plans to develop a national data exchange system aimed at improving data sharing and integration across ministries, departments and agencies to enhance governance and service delivery.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume disclosed this at the two-day fourth Nigeria GovTech Conference and Awards held at the Presidential Villa Abuja.
He said the proposed exchange layer would permit authorized agencies to share data while eliminating redundant documentation and enabling “once-only” service delivery.
The initiative, he said, would extend the country’s Digital Public Infrastructure Framework, introduced in March 2025, which is organized around digital identity, digital payments and secure data exchange.
Permanent Secretary in the General Services Office Dr Ibrahim Kana who represented the SGF said the proposal reflects a broader effort to consolidate Nigeria’s digital-government gains.
More than 136 million Nigerians have enrolled in the National Identification Number ( NIN) system, while instant-payment platforms process millions of transactions daily, he added.
Akume acknowledged that the program faces substantial obstacles, including data protection, interoperability among government systems and the integration of state and local governments into national identity and payment infrastructure.
“Data protection, interoperability, lack of integration by the sub-national to identity and payment rails remain significant gaps” he said, urging conference participants to develop practical solutions.
Separately, the Director-General Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) Dasuki Arabi said it had introduced three digital tools—the BPSR Reform Tracker, Repository Tool and National Strategy for Public Service Reforms app, aimed at monitoring reforms and improve record-keeping across the public service.
Arabi said the tools are intended to show which reforms are working, identify implementation bottlenecks and support continued use of technology to improve service delivery.
NewsQuest gathered that the conference focused on scaling digital public infrastructure for governance and service delivery.
