The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) says ordinary Nigerians will now have direct leverage to track government expenditure and demand excellent service delivery through its newly developed digital platforms.

The director-general of the bureau, Dasuki Arabi, made this known during a press conference on Monday in Abuja, ahead of the formal launch of three transformative digital platforms scheduled for July 14, 2026.

Mr Arabi said the platforms will strengthen transparency, accountability, knowledge management, and evidence-based implementation of public service reforms across all tiers of government.

According to him, the reforms are intentionally structured to shift the governance paradigm, ensuring that the ordinary citizen is treated as a valued customer with the right to dictate and determine the quality of public service.

”The citizen must not be seen as just an ordinary human being interacting with us. He is our customer; he has the right to dictate and determine where we go now,” he said.

He said that with the 100 per cent digitalisation of public financial management and budget preparation, everyday Nigerians and civil society groups could now seamlessly access information on budgetary allocations and utilisation.

The BPSR boss said the initiative had effectively ended the era of secrecy in governance, meaning service delivery gaps can be identified and made public within seconds.

”If you look at public service delivery in the last 20 years, you know that there are a lot of changes. Information is proactively delivered to the doorsteps of the media and citizens. Everyone knows now what our budget process is and what is happening within the space of government,” he said.

Mr Arabi revealed plans to extend the sensitisation and citizen engagement frameworks to the zonal, state, and local government levels.

He listed the tools to be unveiled as the Reforms Tracker Dashboard, the Knowledge Repository, and the National Strategy for Public Service Reform (NSPSR) Strategy Dashboard.

According to him, the Reforms Tracker Dashboard would provide a real-time, credible mechanism for citizens and policymakers to monitor reform milestones and performance indicators across various ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).

”The Knowledge Repository will function as a central digital library for all post-independence and modern reform policies since 2004, solving the long-standing challenge of fragmented reporting and data loss.

”I am always sad that if you are looking for information on Nigeria, you go to the OECD, World Bank, or IMF. Nigerians must create their own database and stories, and this is our contribution,” he said.

Addressing concerns over technological disruptions, the BPSR boss said the federal government had approved tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to scale up civil service operations.

He dismissed fears of job losses, asserting that public servants are being aggressively retrained and reskilled to adapt to digital workspaces.

”Those that fail to understand and learn how to use artificial intelligence will lose their jobs. Those that are able to learn it and understand it will be more productive and relevant,” he said.

The official inauguration ceremony is expected to attract key government stakeholders, including the secretary to the government of the federation and the head of the Civil Service of the Federation, as well as development partners and civil society organisations.

(NAN)