Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) have inaugurated the Joint Technical Committee of the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative (JTC-NSCI) to drive coordinated implementation of Nigeria’s sovereign cloud agenda.
The committee is expected to address critical fiscal, expenditure, procurement, financing and investment considerations necessary for the effective implementation of the initiative.
Chaired by the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, with the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, as co-chair, the committee comprises representatives of government institutions responsible for public finance, procurement, investment, connectivity, power and energy, cybersecurity, data governance and other critical areas.
Declaring the committee inaugurated, Yakubu described its mandate as addressing “an increasingly important question of state capacity”, noting that government expenditure on digital infrastructure continues to grow as public reliance on technology deepens.
He said the committee’s central responsibility would be to ensure that investments in government digital infrastructure are properly planned, prioritised and supervised to deliver greater efficiency and fiscal value.
“Our challenge is to ensure that these investments are properly planned, appropriately prioritised, fiscally sustainable, and capable of delivering greater value from public resources.
“The National Sovereign Cloud Initiative should therefore help us to improve efficiency and resilience, reduce available duplication, optimise existing capacity, and make better-informed investment decisions,” he said.
Yakubu, however, stressed that government does not necessarily need to finance or own every component of the digital infrastructure ecosystem.
He advocated an approach that would mobilise private capital, competitive markets and credible long-term demand to complement public investment in the sector.
The BOF boss explained that sovereign cloud implementation extends beyond technology, as it involves multiple public-sector institutions and requires coordinated action across several areas.
“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.
The Director General, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa flanked in a group photograph with The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation in Nigeria is Mr. Tanimu Yakubu; The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) is Professor Ibrahim Adepoju Adeyanju; The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) in Nigeria is Dr. Adebowale A. Adedokun and other member of the Joint Technical Committee- National Sovereignty Cloud Initiative after the JTC- NSCI meeting at the agency’s headquarters
“No single institution can address these issues in isolation. This interdependence is reflected in the breadth of ministries, departments, and agencies represented on the Joint Technical Committee,” he added.
Yakubu said the committee’s work would be practical, evidence-driven and result-oriented, adding that its progress would be measured by improved utilisation of existing assets, reduced duplication, stronger resilience, better value for public expenditure and increased private-sector investment.
Earlier, the NITDA DG and co-chairman of the JTC-NSCI, Kashifu Inuwa, described the committee as a significant step towards enabling Nigeria to take greater control of its data and strengthen the country’s digital economy.
He warned that excessive dependence on foreign digital infrastructure could leave Nigeria’s digital future vulnerable to external interests.
“This Joint Technical Committee of the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative (JTC-NSCI) is a defining step for Nigeria’s digital future. The level of interest the initiative has drawn since the underlying regulatory instrument was issued has been remarkable.
“Anything about the fourth industrial revolution relies on our digital infrastructure, connectivity, and computing power. 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,” Inuwa said.
The NITDA DG stressed the importance of Nigeria determining its own digital future, particularly in relation to data, algorithms, Artificial Intelligence and digital transactions.
“As a nation, we should determine our digital future. We should have control over our data. We should have control over our algorithms, our AI, and all our transactions,” he added.
On implementation, Inuwa disclosed that NITDA was working towards certifying cloud service and infrastructure providers that meet Nigeria’s sovereign cloud standards, as well as system integrators that would support banks and government agencies in migrating their workloads.
He explained that the initiative would introduce a cloud-first policy designed to help government agencies reduce costs, optimise operational budgets and lessen the burden associated with establishing and maintaining individual data centres.
According to him, the committee would also facilitate the harmonisation of regulatory issues across government institutions and create an enabling environment capable of attracting private investment into Nigeria’s cloud infrastructure ecosystem.
Also speaking at the inauguration, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Dr. Adebowale Adedokun, described the committee as a paradigm shift towards achieving greater value for money across the economy.
Adedokun said the initiative was fully aligned with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act and assured that the BPP was ready to strengthen compliance mechanisms necessary for the success of the sovereign cloud initiative.
He said stronger collaboration among government institutions would promote efficient use of scarce public resources while accelerating investment and growth in Nigeria’s digital infrastructure industry.
“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.
“It is very clear that for the maximisation of scarce resources, this is the way to go. And there is no two ways for us to be at the same level with global digital communities,” the BPP boss said.
The inauguration of the JTC-NSCI signals the Federal Government’s resolve to pursue a more coordinated and sustainable implementation of Nigeria’s sovereign cloud agenda by bringing together institutions responsible for fiscal policy, regulation, infrastructure, investment, cybersecurity and other critical enablers.
The committee will provide a focused 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 ultimately expected to strengthen Nigeria’s digital sovereignty, improve the efficiency of public-sector technology investments and create a more resilient and investment-friendly cloud infrastructure ecosystem.
END
