The Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya has urged young officers of the Ministry to think outside the box, be innovative and embrace digitalization in order to add value to the services rendered to members of the public.
Jafiya made this statement in her opening remarks at a one day workshop on Freedom of Information Act 2011 for officers on Salary Grade Levels 12 – 14 held on Thursday at the main Auditorium of Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja.
The Perm Sec said FOIA 2011 has been in operation since 2011 and the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu believes in totality with the terms of this Act which includes good governance, inclusivity, transparency and accountability.
She added that the current administration poised to deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians and members of the public is carrying out its duties and responsibilities in consonance with the Freedom of Information Act 2011 (FOIA 2011).
The Permanent Secretary Finance noted that the Ministry is a critical establishment in the implementation of Federal Government’s policies, programs and activities and as such it is committed to effective operationalization of the Act in the management of government finances in the most transparent and accountable manner.
Jafiya noted that the Act is a tool for any functional democracy to strive, thereby making it a necessity for the Ministry to communicate the contents to all categories of officers in the Federal Ministry of Finance who are expected to be attentive and utilize the knowledge acquired from the workshop to bear for enhanced service delivery.
Jafiya noted that accurate record keeping and retrieval mechanisms are vital to the successful operation of the FOIA 2011, adding that the Federal Ministry of Finance has keyed into the Electronic Record management (ERM) system to address any concern.
Earlier, the Director Press and Public Relations Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr. Stephen Kilebi in his welcome address emphasized the need for active participation at the workshop.
He added that the effective operationalization of FOIA 2011 will boost good governance, probity, transparency, accountability and citizens participation in governance which are the bedrocks of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Kilebi thanked the Honourable Minister of Finance and Co-Ordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, Permanent Secretary Finance, Lydia Shehu Jafiya, the Permanent Secretary Special Duties Finance, Okokon Ekanem Udo,for providing the logistics to organize the workshops.
It could be recalled that a similar workshop was organized for officers of the Ministry on Salary Grade Levels 3-10 last week in Abuja.
Mrs. Babalola Olufunke Olanike from the Human Resources Department of the Ministry who was a participant at the workshop said, “The workshop is fantastic, an eye opener for us to know our rights to access information that is beneficial to us and go for it.”
She added, “I am recommending this kind of workshop to several other people for them to know that they have access to certain information that will be beneficial to them.”
Also, Mr. Abubakar Nuhu, another participant from Reforms Coordination and Service Improvement Department of the Ministry observed, “The workshop is very rich and encompassing in the sense that government is all about transparency, the knowledge we acquired from this workshop will help the government on its transparency agenda”, recommended that such a workshop should be done on regular basis.
The lectures were well delivered by Mr. Benjamin O. Okolo, the Lead Resource person and Mr. Chris Ugwuala on: Examine key components of open and good governance through FOIA 2011.
Obligations and duties of public institutions in the implementation of the FOIA 2011 and Understanding, dealing, and responding to FOIA request/application – a step by step guide.