The Federal Government says it has saved the country over N47 billion from the implementation of virtual meetings for the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
This sum, the Federal Government said, is what it would have spent if it had continued with the former practice of holding FEC meetings physically.
Government further said it had foiled 66 attempts by hackers from Europe to compromise the said virtual meetings.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami made these revelations in Abuja at the 19th edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the scorecard series was organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture to showcase the achievements of the Buhari’s administration.
Presenting the scorecards of his ministry, Pantami said since the unveiling of the National Policy on Virtual Engagements for Federal Public Institutions in October, 2020, not less than, 108 virtual FEC meetings had been held.
He said from the 108 virtual FEC meetings held, 66 attacks to compromise the meetings were made from Europe but all were foiled.
The minister did not say how or by whom the cyber strike were averted but observed that all the cases were reported to the appropriate authorities for the records and for action.
Federal Executive Council meetings are typically held every Wednesday at the State House, Abuja, and attended by the President, Vice President, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, as well as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of Service of the Federation, Chief of Staff to the President, National Security Adviser and other ministers.
Pantami recalled that the National Policy on Virtual Engagements was launched to formalise government’s online meetings such as FEC and Council of State meetings.
He observed that with the policy developed with the office of the Head of Service of the Federation, government’s virtual meetings could be held effectively and legally.
He further disclosed that in line with Buhari’s vision to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty, not less than 2.2 million jobs had been created in the digital sector in the past three years.
He said the feat was achieved in the sector by the implementation of the Executive Orders signed by the President to prioritise indigenous content, as well as indigenous professionals in the execution of national projects.
Pantami said in the execution of jobs, planning and design of projects, as well as appointments of key officials in the digital sector of the country, priorities were given to indigenous professionals.
He said his ministry also prioritised the execution of programmes and projects that could generate direct and indirect jobs.
