The Arewa Professional Forum (APF) has called on the Federal Government to fast-track the adoption of digital governance and paperless administration across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), saying recent developments surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) highlight the need to strengthen institutional systems through technology-driven reforms.

In a statement on Friday and signed by its National President, Comrade Auwal Muhammed, the Forum said the focus should be on consolidating ongoing public service reforms that can prevent administrative lapses rather than engaging in blame allocation.

According to the APF, the issues surrounding the PFIPC should serve as a reminder of the importance of eliminating manual administrative processes that often create opportunities for delays, weak documentation and verification challenges.

The Forum commended the efforts of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, for driving digital innovation and automation within the Federal Civil Service, describing the ongoing transition towards a paperless public service as one of the most significant governance reforms in recent years.

It noted that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has, over the past two years, implemented an ambitious digital transformation programme through initiatives such as the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) System, GovMail and the 1-GOV Cloud Platform.

According to the statement, these reforms are gradually replacing cumbersome paper-based procedures with secure digital platforms designed to improve transparency, accountability, record management, decision-making and inter-agency communication.

The APF said a fully digitised government communication, approvals and records management system would significantly reduce administrative shortcomings by creating verifiable audit trails and strengthening institutional accountability across public institutions.

It added that expanding digital transformation initiatives across MDAs would make procedural lapses easier to identify, monitor and prevent while enhancing public confidence in government institutions.

“It is precisely because of challenges such as these that the Head of the Civil Service has consistently championed the vision of a technology-driven and paperless Federal Civil Service,” the statement said.

The Forum further stated that the benefits of the reforms are already evident in various parts of the country, particularly in Northern Nigeria, where federal institutions have recorded improvements in electronic correspondence, digital service delivery, online examinations, merit-based processes, payroll integrity, digital performance management and staff capacity-building programmes.

It stressed that digital governance remains critical to improving service delivery in key sectors such as education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure and public administration, noting that efficient technology-driven systems are essential for effective government coordination.

The APF argued that governments seeking global standards of transparency, efficiency and accountability can no longer depend predominantly on manual administrative processes.

Consequently, the Forum urged the Federal Government to sustain and expand digital transformation initiatives across all MDAs, insisting that reforms being implemented by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation should be strengthened and consolidated.

It added that nationwide adoption of digital governance would enhance institutional integrity, improve collaboration among government agencies, safeguard official records and position Nigeria’s public service as a more transparent, efficient and accountable institution capable of meeting the demands of a modern economy.