Minister of State Ata Urges Staff to Take Ownership of Digital Platform The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has marked one year of the implementation and go-live of its Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system, highlighting the role of digital transformation in improving efficiency, transparency, records management and service delivery across the Ministry. The milestone was commemorated on Wednesday at the Ministry of Works Conference Room, Abuja, with the theme “One Year of Digital Transformation: Advancing Efficiency, Transparency and Service Delivery through ECM.” Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Abdullahi Ata, commended staff of the Ministry for their commitment to the ECM system and urged them to take full ownership of the platform and make it an integral part of their daily operations. Rt. Hon. Ata said the anniversary was more than a celebration, noting that it provided an opportunity to reflect on the Ministry’s shared commitment to transforming the way it creates, manages, shares and preserves information. According to him, the ECM system has strengthened efforts towards a more efficient, transparent and digitally enabled public service by improving access to information, reducing reliance on physical documents, enhancing records management and speeding up workflows. He added that the system supports the Ministry’s objective of becoming a modern and responsive institution, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government. The Minister commended the management of the Ministry, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department, the technical team, consultants and other stakeholders whose contributions facilitated the implementation and adoption of the system during its first year. He stressed, however, that digital transformation was an ongoing journey that required continuous improvement and collective responsibility. “We must continue to improve our processes, protect sensitive information, promote innovation and ensure that technology remains at the heart of effective governance and better delivery of housing and urban development programmes,” he said. The Minister urged staff to fully embrace the ECM platform and build on the progress recorded during its first year, noting that the success of the digital transformation drive would depend on its effective integration into the Ministry’s daily operations. He further congratulated the management and staff of the Ministry on the milestone and urged them to sustain the momentum as the Ministry continues to leverage digital technology to enhance its operations and service delivery. In his remarks, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Abel Enitan, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Common Services Office, Office of the Head of Service, Dr. Danjuma Usman Kalba, described the event as a celebration of institutional change, not just of the ECM. He said digital transformation was not merely about acquiring technology, but about changing the way government works, saying that it demonstrates the Ministry’s commitment to providing direction, the institution’s ownership of the process, and the willingness of public servants to embrace innovation and technology. Dr. Kalba stressed the need to provide a digital environment that enables smooth government operations. He added that digital transformation is a collective responsibility that depends on the support of the Honourable Minister, heads of agencies, permanent secretaries and staff. In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary Dr. Shuaib Belgore, said the ECM introduced in line with the Head of Service’s directive, was fully launched on September 30, 2025, describing it as a decisive shift from paper-based processes to a more efficient and responsive working environment. He said the Ministry has since reduced its dependence on physical files, improved document tracking and speeded up decisions, and has received recognition from the Head of Service for compliance. Accordingly, he disclosed that the move to paperless work is saving the Ministry more than ₦400 million annually on stationery, and that more than 90 desktop computers, 30 laptops and multifunctional printers were distributed to staff in February 2026 to support the system. Belgore said that turnaround time has improved sharply, with a file that would normally take four to five days moving from his desk to the Minister and on to Finance in under an hour. He also informed that the platform has recorded no downtime, hacking or ransomware attacks since launch. Looking ahead, he said the Ministry’s focus must shift from adoption to optimisation, with stronger compliance, staff training and information security. He further urged staff to make use of the Federal Civil Service’s service-wide GPT and announced the rollout of the Performance Management System (PMS), which will be used to evaluate staff performance through key result areas and performance indicators. Earlier in his welcome address, the Head of the ICT Department, Dr. Amiolemen Marcus said the ECM has given the Ministry a well-structured system for creating, managing, storing and preserving official documents, disclosing that 1,200 staff at the Headquarters and State Offices have been onboarded onto the platform. He informed that ICT Department has digitised 6,018 membership files and 80,454 documents, bringing the total records stored on the ECM database to 669,108, adding that training was conducted for staff at both the Headquarters and State Offices on how to use the system. As part of activities marking the anniversary, excellence awards were presented in four categories: ECM Transformative Leadership Award, Most Active Department on ECM Award, Most Active Staff on ECM Award and Support Staff Award. Winners of the Most Active Department and Most Active Staff awards were selected based on the highest number of workflows generated on the ECM platform.
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