The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has declared a major shift from paper-based administration to digital governance, revealing that its Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system is saving the ministry more than ₦400 million annually in stationery costs.
The disclosure came as the ministry marked one year of the implementation and go-live of the ECM platform, which officials said has transformed document management, accelerated workflows and strengthened transparency across its operations.
The milestone was commemorated on Wednesday at the Ministry of Works Conference Room, Abuja, under the theme, “One Year of Digital Transformation: Advancing Efficiency, Transparency and Service Delivery through ECM.”
Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Abdullahi Ata, urged staff to take full ownership of the digital platform and make it an integral part of their daily operations.
Ata said the anniversary was not merely a celebration but an opportunity to assess the ministry’s progress in transforming how it creates, manages, shares and preserves official information.
According to him, the ECM system has strengthened the ministry’s drive towards a more efficient and transparent public service by improving access to information, reducing dependence on physical documents, enhancing records management and accelerating official workflows.
He said the digital transformation was also consistent with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and its objective of building a modern, responsive and technology-driven public service.
The minister commended the ministry’s management, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department, technical team, consultants and other stakeholders for their contributions to the implementation and adoption of the system.
Ata, however, warned that digital transformation was an ongoing process requiring continuous improvement and collective responsibility.
“We must continue to improve our processes, protect sensitive information, promote innovation and ensure that technology remains at the heart of effective governance and better delivery of housing and urban development programmes,” he said.
He urged staff to build on the gains recorded during the first year, stressing that the success of the initiative would ultimately depend on how effectively the ECM platform becomes embedded in the ministry’s everyday operations.
Also speaking, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Abel Enitan, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Common Services Office, Office of the Head of Service, Dr. Danjuma Usman Kalba, described the anniversary as a celebration of institutional change rather than technology alone.
Kalba said digital transformation was not simply about acquiring technology but about fundamentally changing the way government works.
He said the initiative demonstrated the ministry’s commitment to providing direction, institutional ownership of the process and the willingness of public servants to embrace innovation.
He stressed the need for a digital environment capable of supporting seamless government operations, adding that digital transformation required the collective support of ministers, permanent secretaries, heads of agencies and civil servants.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Shuaib Belgore, said the ECM, introduced in line with the directive of the Head of the Civil Service, was fully launched on September 30, 2025, marking what he described as a decisive transition from paper-based processes to a faster and more responsive working environment.
Belgore disclosed that the ministry had significantly reduced its dependence on physical files, improved document tracking and accelerated decision-making, earning recognition from the Head of Service for compliance.
He revealed that the transition to paperless operations was saving the ministry over ₦400 million annually on stationery, while more than 90 desktop computers, 30 laptops and multifunctional printers were distributed to staff in February 2026 to support the digital system.
The Permanent Secretary said the impact of the platform was particularly evident in turnaround time, noting that files which previously took four to five days to move through the relevant offices could now travel from his desk to the minister and onward to the Ministry of Finance in less than one hour.
Belgore further disclosed that the ECM platform had recorded no downtime, hacking or ransomware attack since its launch.
He said the ministry’s next phase should focus on moving beyond basic adoption to optimisation, with greater emphasis on compliance, continuous staff training and information security.
He also encouraged staff to take advantage of the Federal Civil Service’s service-wide GPT, while announcing the rollout of the Performance Management System (PMS) to assess staff performance through key result areas and measurable performance indicators.
Earlier, the Head of the ICT Department, Dr. Amiolemen Marcus, said the ECM had provided the ministry with a structured platform for creating, managing, storing and preserving official documents.
Marcus disclosed that 1,200 staff across the ministry’s headquarters and state offices had been onboarded onto the platform.
He said the ICT Department had digitised 6,018 membership files and 80,454 documents, while the total number of records stored on the ECM database had reached 669,108.
He added that staff at both the headquarters and state offices had also undergone training to ensure effective utilisation of the platform.
The anniversary featured excellence awards in four categories: ECM Transformative Leadership Award, Most Active Department on ECM Award, Most Active Staff on ECM Award and Support Staff Award.
Winners of the Most Active Department and Most Active Staff awards were selected based on the highest number of workflows generated on the ECM platform.
The ministry said the milestone marked a new phase in its digital transformation journey, with the focus now shifting from adoption of the system to deeper integration, optimisation and stronger information security.
