The Federal Government of Nigeria has stepped up efforts to ensure greater accountability, efficiency, and measurable performance across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). This move is in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's directive that non-performance will no longer be tolerated across government institutions. The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) is at the forefront of this drive.
Director General of PEBEC, Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu, highlighted the progress recorded across federal MDAs, as well as persistent performance gaps and the need to institutionalize accountability. According to her, the assessment revealed encouraging improvements, with 16 MDAs achieving full implementation of assessed reforms. However, she noted that recent mystery shopping findings exposed a decline in responsiveness level following the conclusion of active monitoring.
The PEBEC DG emphasized that these mechanisms are designed to provide continuous visibility into institutional performance, identify service delivery gaps and ensure that MDAs remain accountable for their reform commitments throughout the year. She reminded the heads of MDAs of the ongoing mystery shopping exercises, the live performance tracker and the upcoming end-of-year Business Facilitation Act (BFA) Compliance Ranking.
The engagement also reinforced the Federal Ministry of Finance's increasing emphasis on institutional performance, with the Ministry expected to consider the performance, responsiveness and reform compliance of government agencies in its engagements and dealings with them. This approach aligns with President Tinubu's zero-tolerance stance on non-performance and the Federal Government's determination to ensure that public institutions deliver measurable results and improved services to citizens and businesses.
For PEBEC, the priority remains translating reform commitments into tangible and sustainable outcomes. Through continuous mystery shopping, real-time digital tracking, BFA compliance assessments and data-driven performance monitoring, PEBEC will continue to strengthen transparency, identify implementation gaps and support MDAs in improving service delivery.
The era of compliance on paper alone must give way to measurable performance, continuous accountability and real results, according to PEBEC. The council will continue to work with MDAs to ensure that they are prepared to account for their results. The Federal Ministry of Finance's emphasis on institutional performance is a step towards ensuring that government agencies are held accountable for their actions.
The Nigerian government is committed to ensuring that public institutions deliver measurable results and improved services to citizens and businesses. The government's drive for accountability and efficiency is a step towards achieving this goal. With the implementation of these mechanisms, MDAs will be held accountable for their performance, and the government will be able to track progress and identify areas for improvement.
Key points
- The Nigerian government has intensified its drive for accountability and efficiency across Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
- 16 MDAs have achieved full implementation of assessed reforms, but persistent performance gaps remain.
- The government will continue to track performance and hold MDAs accountable for their results.
