ABUJA – The Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Mr Ojo Olatunde has described Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as critical to the administration of activities of the National Assembly.

He stated this during a training organised by the National Assembly ICT Department in collaboration with Sunnet System Ltd held in Abuja on Wednesday.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was organised for staff of the national assembly ICT department.

In his remarks, Olatunde called on the staff to see themselves as a formidable core of the administration of the national assembly.

“As the technological pillar of the national assembly, you have contributions to make for the successful running of this institution”.

Olatunde, while noting that ICT had gone beyond owning a computer, urged the participants to carry out their duties in such a way as to differentiate themselves from others.

“There is no disputing the fact that today is indeed a milestone in the history of the ICT department in the National Assembly, and all participants must congratulate ourselves for being part of history.

“Borne out of our commitment to serve with the extreme importance we attach to ICT under our watch, we did not waste time to boot out and block from the National Assembly, the fraudulent contractors that stagnated the department in the past.

“lt will interest us to know that the forensic audit report initiated by my predecessor indicted contractors that did the ‘Internet Bandwidth Connecting Upgrade’ and other ICT Services.

“We have carried to the latter, the recommendations in that report.”

He noted that the national assembly would make optimal use of ICT in parliament to achieve a paperless legislative environment with issues of e-voting, Order Paper, votes and proceedings among others to boost parliamentary and democratic participation in Nigeria.

Also, Director ICT in the National Assembly, Mrs Fatima Jalal Arabi said that the aim of the training was to improve staff capacity in ICT.

“Most of our old staff from the level of assistant directors to deputy directors have been moved to other departments and we need replacement,” she said.

Managing Director Sunnet Systems Ltd, Mr Paul Olagunju said the training was put up to make the team members more proficient in ICT.