In 2023, the Ebonyi State Government, as part of its Business Enabling Reform Action Plan, set out on a digital reform project aimed at improving land administration processes.

The project, under the World Bank-funded State Action on Business Enabling Reforms, was meant to reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks in property registration and promote investment through digitisation.

The initiative received a total allocation of N13.8 million. Out of the sum, N6.3 million was specifically earmarked to design a website for the Ministry of Land.

The core objective was to reduce the time required to apply for and obtain a Certificate of Occupancy and other registrable land instruments.

The deadline for completion, according to the state SABER report, was April 2023. Nearly two years later, the website exists but it’s nonfunctional.

READ ALSO: Sokoto Budgeted N48.5m for Business Reforms Through Websites. They Went Down

A WEBSITE THAT LEADS NOWHERE

Despite an outwardly decent landing page, the Ebonyi State Ministry of Land’s website fails in its primary function. While a registration page exists, none of the service buttons lead to any active portal or page.

The link for the login page, meant to grant users access to personalised information, is broken. Contact details, including phone numbers and email addresses, are placeholders. Even the social media links redirect visitors to empty or inactive pages.

More curiously, the site contains an entire portfolio section dedicated to a private organisation named Troweld. The About Page also contains details of a make-believe Troweld suggesting incomplete design or improper web development process. The About Page is filled with dummy text, confirming suspicions that the website is unfinished.

REGULATORY VIOLATIONS

Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) outlines clear guidelines for government websites. These include ensuring that all links function properly, external references remain relevant and services promised to the public are delivered efficiently.

NITDA’s standards mandate that government websites be accessible on a 24-hour basis securely and efficiently.

Hosting must be done with reliable service providers to ensure uptime and performance. Domains under ‘.gov.ng’ must be registered by Nigeria Internet Registration Association policies.

Ebonyi’s Ministry of Land website falls short of these basic requirements. The broken or non-existent pages fall short of the mandate of availability 24/7. The website is not also registered with a ‘.gov’ domain.

The failure to provide functional services defeats the whole point of the Business Enabling Reform Action Plan, which is supposed to make business operations easier and not more frustrating.

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That raises a bigger question: where is the SABER money going?

As the follow-up to the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme, SABER comes with a $750 million World Bank fund meant to drive governance reforms.

A key part of that is digitising land administration, regulatory processes and investment systems.

FIJ has reported other instances of Nigerian states fumbling SABER-funded digital projects.

READ ALSO: Bauchi Water Agency Secures Millions Twice for Nonexistent Website

In 2023, Sokoto State set aside N48.5 million for business reforms, including four government websites. Less than a year later, most were either broken or didn’t exist at all. Also, Bauchi State alloted money twice to its water agency for a website that doesn’t exist.

Beyond the waste, this goes against NITDA guidelines, which require government websites to be accessible every day of the week.