FG Sets up Inter-Ministerial C’ttee on Data Harmonisation
Ndubuisi Francis
The federal government has established an inter-ministerial committee on harmonisation of data collection and evaluation for the country.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who disclosed this in Abuja, said the committee is to be chaired by the Statistician General of the Federation and Director-General of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Dr. Yemi Kale.
According to Adeosun, the inter-ministerial committee would serve as the clearing house and focal authority for ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the federal government, for data collection, authentication and publication.
A statement issued by the minister’s media aide, Mr. Oluyinka Akintunde, said the committee would ensure national standards for data collection, evaluation and publication as well as regularly provide guidance to all MDAs and other stakeholders engaged in data collection, analysis and publication for policy formulation, implementation and monitoring.
“The establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Committee has become imperative to develop the production of national statistics and avoid data production duplication,” the minister stated.
The inter-ministerial committee is also expected to submit half-yearly reports to the Minister of Finance for necessary briefing of Mr. President.
Members of the committee include: the Accountant General of the Federation, Alhaji Idris Ahmed; Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Ms. Patience Oniha; Director-General of Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze, and representatives of the Federal Ministries of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Health; Agriculture and Rural Development.
Others are Labour and Employment; Education as well as Communication Technology.
Also included are representatives of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Central Bank of Nigeria, Department of Petroleum Resources, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service, National Population Commission, Nigeria Police, and Nigerian Governors Forum.