Galaxy Backbone has topped the latest Bureau of Public Service Reforms scorecard ranking of government agency websites, outpacing other Ministries, Departments, and Agencies in online performance.
The ranking places Galaxy Backbone first with a score of 49, followed by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board with 48 points, while several export, revenue, and regulatory agencies clustered closely behind.
Speaking at the Scorecard Ranking of Ministries, Departments and Agencies Websites for the 2024–2025 assessment period on Monday, in Abuja, the Director General of BPSR, Dasuki Arabi, explained the purpose of the initiative, saying, “We came up with this idea of Scorecard for Ranking of Websites, not to shame or disgrace those that are not doing well, but to make sure that ministries, departments and agencies have similar colour, similar structure, similar content.
“Most importantly, we proactively provide information on our activities, on our website, so that some of these services can be either assessed, or engagements can be done through the website, reducing man-to-man contact.”
Arabi noted that the ranking is already yielding results across the public service.
“Generally, I think we are improving. We started with about 20 agencies, and you can see that at a certain stage, about 10 or more agencies are scoring the same point,” he said.
According to him, competition among MDAs has intensified, with agencies previously ranked low making deliberate efforts to improve.
“So there is improvement, but there is stiff competition. Those who were behind last year, I think they made it a point to make sure that they take over this year, and this is what we are seeing,” he added.
He further stressed that the digital presence of government institutions has improved significantly over time.
He added, “Generally, compared to when we started, there is improvement, because when we started, quite a number of MDA’s websites were dead; and today, virtually 99 per cent of our websites are working, and now that we are going paperless.
“I think this is one of the tools that the e-government master plan is taking forward, and it is just compulsory and important for all of us to provide all our information, and most importantly, to make our websites active and interactive.”
Arabi also highlighted ongoing efforts to strengthen capacity across MDAs, stating, “We are running lots of capacity development programs on FOI, on use of technology, citizens engagement, and backing it up with the website ranking criteria.”
He added that the competition generated by the scorecard is pushing agencies to raise their standards. “The overall performance is good because we have generated interest, and everybody is making an effort to get their website up to world standard.”
Linking the ranking to broader reform goals, the BPSR Director General recalled the bureau’s long-term target.
“You recall that what we projected in BPSR is Nigerian public service should be among the first 20 public services in the world by December 2025.
“So, we have quite a number of them that are at that level, some have even surpassed,” he said, assuring that no agency would be left behind. “We are going to hand-hold those who are lagging behind to make sure that all of us are at the same level.”
According to the assessment, the top-performing websites include Galaxy Backbone, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Nigerian Communications Commission, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Federal Inland Revenue Service, National Agricultural Insurance Corporation, Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission, Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geosciences, and the State House.
However, at the bottom of the table, several agencies were found to have little or no functional web presence, including the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, the Directorate of Technical Aids Corps, the National Theatre, and the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria. At the same time, the Nigerian Television Authority, National Senior Secondary Education Commission, National Gallery of Art, National Boundary Commission, and the Solid Mineral Development Fund Office ranked at the bottom with very low scores.
