
The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) on Wednesday urged tighter institutional performance and stronger accountability across Nigeria’s petroleum sector, saying improved coordination and human-capacity investments are essential to delivering presidential priorities and national development.
Delivering a goodwill message at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources management retreat in Abuja on Wednesday, executive secretary of PTDF, Prof Shu’aibu Shehu Aliyu, described the retreat’s theme— “Driving Institutional Performance and Accountability in the Petroleum Sector for Sustainable National Development”—as timely and critical.
Aliyu, who was represented by the general manager, Procurement Waziri Laisu, said governments are increasingly judged by implementation and measurable outcomes rather than policy pronouncements, and praised the federal government’s results-based governance approach led by the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit (CDRCU).
He noted the presence of the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination at the event as an indicator of the administration’s focus on institutional effectiveness and service delivery.
“We occupy a strategic position in Nigeria’s economic transformation agenda,” Aliyu said. “Our collective success depends on our ability to foster a culture of accountability, strengthen coordination, improve reporting mechanisms, and ensure that our programmes and interventions deliver value to the Nigerian people.”
He highlighted PTDF’s commitment to building strong institutions through investments in capacity development, leadership, and governance structures, adding that competent human capital and continuous improvement are core to the fund’s approach.
Aliyu also warned that the sector must remain agile and innovative amid global energy transition, technological disruption and rising stakeholder expectations.
The PTDF executive said the retreat provides an opportunity to review progress, exchange ideas and develop actionable strategies to enhance inter-agency collaboration, strengthen accountability frameworks and accelerate delivery on ministerial and presidential targets.
He commended ministry leaders, agency heads and policy coordinators for their commitment to public service and expressed confidence that the workshop would yield practical recommendations to improve operational efficiency and policy implementation across the petroleum sector.
Aliyu outlined specific areas where PTDF sees immediate scope for improvement, including standardised performance indicators across agencies, more frequent and transparent reporting cycles, and integrated training programmes tailored to regulatory and technical roles. He urged agencies to adopt digital tools for monitoring and evaluation to reduce delays in project implementation and to improve the reliability of progress data used for decision‑making.
Aliyu called for sustained political will and stakeholder buy‑in to translate workshop recommendations into policy and practice, stressing that well‑executed institutional reforms would unlock private investment, enhance energy security and contribute to broader economic resilience.
SOURCE: LEADERSHIP NEWS PAPER
