The National Information Technology Development Agency and the Budget Office of the Federation have inaugurated a Joint Technical Committee to drive the fiscal, procurement, investment and financing framework for the implementation of the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative.
The committee, known as the Joint Technical Committee of the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative, is chaired by the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, while the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, serves as co-chairman.
Members of the committee are drawn from government institutions with responsibilities spanning public finance, procurement, investment, connectivity, power and energy, cybersecurity and data governance, among other areas.
Speaking at the inauguration, Yakubu described the assignment as an important step towards strengthening the capacity of government to manage its growing expenditure on digital infrastructure.
He said increasing reliance on digital infrastructure had made it necessary for the government to ensure that its investments were properly planned, prioritised and managed to deliver value for money.
“Our challenge is to ensure that these investments are properly planned, appropriately prioritised, fiscally sustainable, and capable of delivering greater value from public resources,” Yakubu said.
He said the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative should help government improve efficiency and resilience, eliminate duplication, optimise existing infrastructure and make better-informed investment decisions.
The Budget Office DG, however, cautioned against a model in which government would finance or own every component of the digital infrastructure ecosystem.
He advocated greater mobilisation of private capital, competitive markets and credible long-term demand to complement public investment in the sector.
Yakubu said the sovereign cloud initiative extended beyond technology, noting that its implementation involved public finance, budgeting, procurement, investment, power, connectivity, cybersecurity, data governance and regulation.
“Sovereign cloud implementation is not solely a technology matter. It cuts across public finance, budgeting, procurement, investment, power connectivity, cybersecurity, data governance, and central regulation.
“No single institution can address these issues in isolation,” he said.
He added that the broad representation of ministries, departments and agencies on the committee reflected the interdependent nature of the initiative.
Yakubu said the committee’s work would be practical, evidence-based and results-oriented, adding that its performance would be assessed against measurable outcomes.
According to him, these would include improved utilisation of existing digital assets, reduction in duplication, enhanced resilience, better value for public expenditure and increased private-sector investment.
Also speaking, the NITDA Director-General and co-chairman of the committee, Kashifu Inuwa, described its inauguration as a significant step towards strengthening Nigeria’s digital sovereignty and enabling the country to take greater control of its data and digital infrastructure.
Inuwa warned that excessive dependence on foreign digital infrastructure could expose the country’s digital future to external control.
He said the development of indigenous digital infrastructure was essential to Nigeria’s ability to determine its technological future, particularly as the Fourth Industrial Revolution increasingly depends on connectivity, computing power and digital infrastructure.
“This Joint Technical Committee of the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative is a defining step for Nigeria’s digital future.
“Relying on foreign services for all this digital infrastructure means we are putting our future in the hands of these foreign companies. So, digital sovereignty is about building our capacity for digital self-determination,” he said.
Inuwa said Nigeria needed greater control over its data, algorithms, artificial intelligence systems and digital transactions.
On implementation, he disclosed that NITDA was working towards certifying cloud service and infrastructure providers that meet Nigeria’s sovereign cloud standards.
He added that system integrators would also be engaged to support banks and government agencies in migrating their workloads to the sovereign cloud environment.
According to him, the initiative would introduce a cloud-first policy that would enable government agencies to reduce operational costs and the burden associated with maintaining individual data centres.
Inuwa said the committee would also help harmonise regulatory requirements across government institutions and create an environment capable of attracting private-sector investment into the digital infrastructure ecosystem.
The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Dr Adebowale Adedokun, described the initiative as a paradigm shift towards achieving greater value for money in public expenditure.
Adedokun said the initiative was consistent with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act and pledged the bureau’s support towards strengthening compliance and ensuring that the sovereign cloud programme achieved its objectives.
He said effective collaboration among relevant government institutions would be critical to maximising scarce resources and strengthening Nigeria’s position in the global digital economy.
“Our competitors are not sleeping. Nigeria cannot sleep. It is time for us to use our collective understanding, partnership, and collaboration to secure our nation digitally,” Adedokun said.
He added that the initiative would provide an important platform for ensuring that public resources were deployed more efficiently while creating opportunities for investment and growth in Nigeria’s digital economy.
The inauguration of the Joint Technical Committee signals the Federal Government’s determination to pursue a more coordinated approach to implementing the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative.
The committee is expected to provide an inter-agency platform for examining government ICT and cloud expenditure, total cost of ownership, utilisation of existing infrastructure, budget and procurement alignment, infrastructure financing, investment mobilisation and the fiscal implications of cloud adoption.
The initiative is also expected to bring greater coordination among institutions responsible for the fiscal, regulatory, infrastructure, investment and security components of Nigeria’s sovereign cloud architecture.
