FG Warns MDAs against poor performance

The federal government has intensified efforts to enforce accountability and improve service delivery across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), warning that non-performance will no longer be tolerated.

The Director-General of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu, gave the indication at a high-level strategic engagement and press briefing on MDA data collection and harmonisation hosted by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Audu presented findings from the Business Environment Enhancement Programme Accelerator (BEEPA), which assessed the implementation of reforms across federal MDAs.

The assessment showed that 16 MDAs had achieved full implementation of the reforms assessed.

However, mystery shopping findings revealed a decline in responsiveness after active monitoring ended, highlighting concerns about the sustainability of compliance.

She reminded heads of MDAs that mystery shopping exercises, a live performance tracker and the forthcoming end-of-year Business Facilitation Act (BFA) compliance ranking would be used to monitor performance and identify gaps in service delivery.

She said the mechanisms were designed to ensure that agencies remained accountable for their reform commitments throughout the year.

The engagement also highlighted the Federal Ministry of Finance’s emphasis on institutional performance, with agencies’ responsiveness and compliance expected to feature in its engagements with them.

The renewed push aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s position on zero tolerance for non-performance and the government’s commitment to improving services for citizens and businesses.

The PEBEC said it would continue using digital tracking, compliance assessments and data-driven monitoring to strengthen transparency and ensure that reform commitments translated into measurable results.

The council said compliance on paper alone was insufficient, stressing the need for sustained accountability and improved public service delivery.