Getting information from government agencies in Nigeria is a big issue.
The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has disclosed that over 70 percent of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in Nigeria have no websites and less than 25 percent have functional telephone numbers and e-mail.
Mr Dasuki Arabi, the Ag Director General of the bureau said this during the first edition of BPSR Lunch Time Reform Seminar in Abuja on Wednesday, February 28, themed: “Using ICT within the Public Service in the Ease of Doing Business to Enhance Public Access to Information”.
He said there is a huge gap and constraints to doing business in Nigeria as many institutions of government have no avenue to disseminate needed information by business operators.
“This shortcoming has not only created a huge gap and constraint to doing business in Nigeria but is also responsible for the country being ranked number 169 out of the 190 economies in the world. In line with global best practices, institutional websites provide the means through which relevant information for starting business process could be obtained,” he said.
“It is also requisite where information concerning the activities of government organisation could easily be accessed. It is noteworthy to inform you that the Federal Government has adopted the scorecard in a letter dated 10 December 2017 which would serve as peer review mechanism among the MDAs to boost compliance to standards for government website and improve operationalization of the Executive Order E001 on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria.”
The seminar was co-organised by Right to Know (R2K), MacArthur and DFID among others.