The Federal Government says it is planning an Inter-Ministerial Committee to harmonise data collection and evaluation for the country to be chaired by Statistician-General of the Federation and Director-General of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Dr. Yemi Kale.
Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, announced this on Monday in Abuja, said 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 by Oluyinka Akintunde, spokesman to the Minister quoted the minister as saying the Committee would ensure national standards for data collection, evaluation and publication. It is also to regularly provide guidance to all MDAs and other stakeholders engage 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 added.
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, Ben Akabueze, and representatives of the Federal Ministries of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, Labour and Productivity, Education, Communication Technology.
Other members of the Committee are: representatives of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Department of Petroleum Resources, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigerian Customs Service, National Population Commission, Nigerian Police, and Nigerian Governors Forum.