Jigawa, Adamawa, and Plateau  governors have received the Digital Governors of the Year award for North-East, North-West, and North-Central.

They were rewarded at the Nigeria GovTech Gala and Awards 2025, organised by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms in Abuja on Friday.

The award was to recognise public and private sectors  and individuals who digitally integrated their services and contributed to developing a national digital ecosystem.

Governor Umar Namadi of Jigawa said that their efforts to integrate e-governance, transform public services, deploy technology for job creation, and promote the digital economy were yielding significant results.

“Promoting ICT is the topmost of our priority. We are committed to restoring the glory of Jigawa State as the pace setter state in e-governance and the deployment of ICT in achieving socio-economic development,” he said.

He added that the state inaugurated the Jigawa State ICT Development Agency, revived moribund facilities, and increased ICT investments to ensure the digitisation of their processes for better service delivery.

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital won the best Federal Health Institution in Innovation and Use of Technology.

Its chief medical director, Yusuf Jibrin, who also won a trailblazer award, said it was gladdening that the innovation and technology being deployed in the hospital were being recognised.

Some of the initiatives, he said, were the electronic medical records integration with the e-CMDS Platform and
Innovative use of technology and the establishment of an e-class for teaching and collaborative research in the hospital.

Iris Smart Technologies won the Digital Governance Company of the Year. Its executive director (operations), Mina Lawson, said the form would continue to promote ICT. The company is credited with contributing to the inauguration of the first digital passport scheme, among other breakthroughs.

She said that digital governance was driving the country towards a one ID system.

Dasuki Arabi, BPSR director-general, said COVID-19 taught the world how to fast-track the adoption of technology and other emerging technologies.

“It is my hope for Nigerian public service, in terms of digitalisation and quality of public service delivery, that we should be among the first 20 countries in the world in the next one or two years,” he said.

He further said that 99 per cent of Nigerians outside the FCT needed to experience the impact of digitised governance on public services, highlighting the need for citizens to spread the message of digital governance.

Mr Arabi said that the early years of Nigeria’s GovTech began with six states but had grown into 27 states. Other awards included the best federal MDA in Open Data Excellence, which was won by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency. There was also the Best MDA in Cybersecurity Excellence, won by INEC, among other awards.

(NAN)