Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
Stakeholders in monitoring and evaluation have called on the Federal Government to make annual assessment of government projects mandatory and establish a dedicated professional cadre to strengthen accountability and service delivery.
The call was made in a communiqué issued at the end of the third annual meeting of Heads of Monitoring and Evaluation (HOME) of Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), held in Abuja from October 21 to 22, 2026.
The meeting, with the theme, “Strengthening Monitoring and Evaluation Systems for Improved Public Sector Performance,” focused on addressing institutional gaps and improving the use of performance evidence in government planning and decision-making.
Participants urged the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the National Council on Establishment to consider creating a professional monitoring and evaluation cadre within the Federal Public Service.
They also proposed that every federal MDA should evaluate at least one programme or project annually and submit its report to the National Monitoring and Evaluation Department.
The stakeholders said the measure would promote accountability, generate evidence for policy improvement and help government institutions identify implementation gaps and improve project outcomes.
They further recommended a review of the National Monitoring and Evaluation Policy for the 2027–2032 period to address emerging challenges and strengthen the framework guiding evaluation activities across government institutions.
The communiqué reaffirmed the need to retain planning, monitoring and evaluation functions within the Planning, Research and Statistics departments of MDAs, while improving coordination among the various functions.
The participants also advocated strengthening existing institutions to discharge their monitoring, evaluation and accountability responsibilities instead of creating a separate body modelled on a Supreme Audit Institution.
To expand professional expertise, they called for collaboration between M&E heads and the Nigerian Association of Evaluators to promote postgraduate programmes in monitoring and evaluation in Nigerian universities.
Speaking at the meeting, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Deborah Odoh, urged stakeholders to ensure that performance data remained credible, timely and useful in advancing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s development priorities.
Odoh said monitoring and evaluation professionals had a critical responsibility to provide reliable evidence, identify implementation challenges and ensure that findings informed management decisions.
She stressed that transparency and accountability were essential to improving public sector performance.
Earlier, the Director of the National Monitoring and Evaluation Department, Alhaja Olasumbo Ayinde-Yakub, called for stronger alignment between planning, data generation, programme implementation and performance assessment.
She reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to translating existing policy frameworks into effective practices that would improve accountability and service delivery.
The two-day meeting featured presentations and panel discussions on institutional structures, professional capacity, policy development and operational requirements for effective M&E systems.
It was organised by the National Monitoring and Evaluation Department of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in collaboration with the Clonehouse Foundation for Africa Development.
More than 80 participants attended, including representatives of federal MDAs, Eyemark Consultants and the Nigerian Association of Evaluators.
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