The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is strengthening Information Technology (IT) procurement and promoting the adoption of locally developed software as part of efforts to advance Nigeria’s digital sovereignty.
The Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, disclosed this at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he spoke during a plenary session themed, “Nigeria First, Procurement Last: How E-commerce is Rewriting Contracts.”
Inuwa said the reforms were aimed at ensuring that government investments in technology deliver measurable value while strengthening local capacity and reducing dependence on foreign technology solutions.
He explained that the measures support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly its focus on improving governance and service delivery, reforming the economy for sustained inclusive growth, and accelerating diversification through industrialisation and digitisation.
According to him, NITDA received proposals for 1,092 IT projects from 326 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) between July 2023 and July 2026. The proposed projects were valued at more than ₦4.24 trillion, while 1,056 projects worth ₦3.84 trillion were cleared by the Agency.
The NITDA DG identified three major reforms being implemented by the Agency to address gaps in IT project planning, software adoption and digital infrastructure.
He said the first was the strengthening of the IT Project Clearance Framework, under which MDAs would be required to develop proper solution designs before making budgetary provisions for IT projects.
NITDA, he added, would certify companies providing solution design, implementation and quality assurance services, while ensuring that the three functions were not handled by the same organisation on a single project.
Inuwa compared the process to the construction industry, where architectural designs are required before construction begins, stressing that proper planning was essential to achieving value for money in technology investments.
“IT projects should be properly designed before implementation,” he said.
He said the framework would promote standardisation, strengthen accountability and minimise waste in government technology procurement.
The second reform, according to him, is the Software Assurance Framework, which is being developed to increase confidence in locally developed software and encourage Nigerian organisations to move away from excessive reliance on off-the-shelf foreign solutions.
Inuwa noted that many Nigerian organisations spend substantial resources customising software developed for foreign markets to suit local requirements, only to incur further costs when vendors release new versions.
He said Nigeria needed solutions designed around its own business objectives and operational realities.
“Nigerian organisations have different business objectives and operational requirements,” he said, stressing the need to develop and adopt software that responds effectively to local realities.
He added that NITDA was promoting solution design, software testing, standards and assurance, including the licensing of software testing companies to evaluate locally developed solutions.
The third reform is linked to the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative, which NITDA is implementing to strengthen the country’s digital infrastructure and capacity for digital self-determination.
“When we talk about digital sovereignty, it’s about us as a nation to build the capability for digital self-determination,” Inuwa said.
He explained that the initiative would create a stronger digital ecosystem in which locally developed innovations could be built, hosted and scaled within Nigeria.
According to him, the framework provides for certification across major segments of the cloud ecosystem, including infrastructure providers and data centres, cloud service providers, system integrators and cloud aggregators.
It will also establish appropriate requirements for the handling of sensitive and critical data, further strengthening the protection of Nigeria’s digital assets.
Inuwa said public procurement should go beyond government spending and become a strategic instrument for developing national capabilities and creating opportunities for local innovators.
“We look at public procurement not just as a way of government spending money, but as a powerful instrument government has for shaping markets, for building our national capabilities, as well as for creating opportunities for our innovators,” he said.
He cited Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem as evidence of what deliberate policies and market opportunities could achieve, urging stakeholders to replicate such success in healthcare, education, agriculture and other sectors.
The NITDA DG also urged public institutions to change the way they specify IT requirements by focusing less on prescribing particular technologies and more on clearly defining the problems they want to solve, programmes they intend to implement and outcomes they expect to achieve.
He further emphasised the role of lawyers in strengthening technology contracts, particularly in areas such as data ownership, data processing and storage, data portability, intellectual property, cybersecurity and contractual responsibilities.
Inuwa said clearer and more robust technology contracts would provide stronger protection for public institutions, improve confidence in government technology investments and support the broader objective of using public procurement to drive local innovation.
He maintained that the reforms, taken together, would strengthen Nigeria’s digital capacity, promote locally developed solutions and advance the country’s long-term goal of digital sovereignty.
