Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Olawale Edun, said that the government seeks to infuse more technology into its processes to stem expenditure leakages and make government more efficient.
Edun was speaking at the Collaborative Action for Growth, Competitiveness and Stability Session of the 30th Nigeria Economic Summit in Abuja on Tuesday. Edun acknowledged that the robust application of technology has more than doubled the government’s revenue in the first half of 2024, and it is now looking to cascade this revenue into its expenditure system to make spending more efficient.
“On the expenditure side, we met a system that when a ministry or department wants to execute a procurement or a contract, funds will be disbursed to the ministry or department for onward payment of the counterparty or beneficiary.”
“However, we’ve got approval for a system that is currently being implemented where the third parties are paid directly, and that will usher in a new era in terms of efficiency of government spending,” Edun said.
Edun also noted the challenging economic climate but said the government has had to “undertake necessary but relatively difficult reforms that affect the cost of living”, adding that the richer and the stronger people in the society will bear the brunt of the hardship that the vulnerable are facing.