Nigeria can improve governance, accountability with M&E, says Perm Sec

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Emeka Obi, says Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) are key steps toward improving governance, enhancing accountability, and data-driven policymaking.

Obi said this during a stakeholders’ engagement to revise the National M&E Policy in alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda, in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to him, it has become important to review and critically examine the policy to ensure its alignment with President Bola Tinubu, renewed hope agenda.

“The idea is to bring the best modalities to ensure buy-in and compliance for seamless operationalisation of the policy across Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs).

” Let me reiterate that operationalising the national M&E policy is critical to achieving an effective integrated M&E system across MDAs. This review will strengthen governance and reduce inter-agency rivalry and misunderstandings on roles and responsibilities”, he said.

He said that the national M&E policy was a bold step to enhancing transparency and accountability in governance as it seeks to institutionalise monitoring and evaluation practices across sectors and levels of government.

Obi said that it ensured that every intervention was guided by data, evaluated for impact, and adjusted for continuous improvement.

He said that the event marked a pivotal moment in the nation’s commitment to data-driven policymaking.

” In an era where resources are increasingly constrained impactful programmes and projects can still be achieved through a robust M&E systems which the policy stands for. The policy is not just a document but a tool for national development.

” It is also a framework for ensuring that every Naira spent delivers maximum value and translates into measurable improvement in the lives of Nigerians,” he said.

He urged policymakers to be committed to good governance, fiscal discipline, and impactful service delivery.

Obi said that M&E should not be regarded as a bureaucratic processes, but as a life blood of effective governance and a renewed hope for the people.

He said that M&E systems ensured that the actions taken, the resources allocated, and the programmes implemented delivered measurable results, with lasting impact on the citizens.

He said that the success of the policy depended on the active involvement and implementation of all stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities.

” Let us embrace the operationalisation of the policy as a collective responsibility to ensure that every federal, state or local government initiative is monitored, evaluated, and improved for maximum impact.

“I also urge our partners, both local and international, to continue supporting Nigeria’s M&E agenda,” he said.

The Director, National M&E in the ministry, Olasumbo Ayinde-Yakub, said that the revision of the policy would help in tracking all MDAs to deliver on their mandate in line with the renewed hope agenda.

Ayinde-Yakub said that the review would align with Nigeria’s governance system with global best practices.

She said that the M&E policy was developed to provide a structured and systematic framework for monitoring and evaluating public sector projects, programmes and policies in the country.