Federal Govt Intensifies Accountability Across MDAs

The federal government has intensified efforts to enforce accountability, improve efficiency and ensure measurable performance across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), warning that non-performance will no longer be tolerated.

The renewed push for institutional accountability was highlighted at the MDA High-Level Strategic Engagement and Press Briefing, in Abuja, yesterday.

The engagement, themed “MDA Data Collection and Harmonisation,” brought together key government stakeholders to discuss institutional performance, reform implementation and improved service delivery.

The director-general of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu, presented findings from the Business Environment Enhancement Programme Accelerator (BEEPA), highlighting progress recorded across federal MDAs, persistent performance gaps and the need to strengthen accountability mechanisms.

The assessment showed that 16 MDAs had achieved full implementation of the reforms assessed. However, recent mystery shopping exercises revealed a decline in responsiveness following the conclusion of active monitoring, raising concerns about the sustainability of reform compliance.

Addressing heads of MDAs, Audu emphasised that government agencies must sustain their performance beyond periodic assessments, stressing that accountability would be reinforced through continuous monitoring and transparent reporting.

She drew attention to ongoing mystery shopping exercises, the live performance tracker and the forthcoming end-of-year Business Facilitation Act (BFA) Compliance Ranking, which are designed to monitor institutional performance, identify service delivery gaps and track agencies’ compliance with reform commitments.

The mechanisms, according to PEBEC, are intended to ensure that MDAs remain accountable for their performance throughout the year rather than treating compliance as a one-off exercise.

The engagement also highlighted the Federal Ministry of Finance’s growing emphasis on institutional performance, with the ministry expected to take agencies’ responsiveness, reform compliance and service delivery records into account in its engagements with them.

The approach aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s position against non-performance and the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring that public institutions deliver measurable results for citizens and businesses.

PEBEC said it would continue to deploy mystery shopping, real-time digital tracking, BFA compliance assessments and data-driven performance monitoring to strengthen transparency, identify implementation gaps and support agencies in improving service delivery.

The council stressed that reform commitments must translate into tangible and sustainable outcomes, rather than remain on paper.

It reaffirmed its commitment to working with government institutions to build a more efficient, responsive and transparent public service and improve Nigeria’s business environment