Nigeria's federal government unveiled the Government Service Portal on Tuesday in Abuja, creating a single digital hub where citizens and businesses can access multiple government services without visiting separate websites or offices.
Galaxy Backbone developed the platform in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and the Korea International Cooperation Agency.
The portal allows users to log in once and access a growing range of services through one interface. Officials expect it will cut delays, stop information duplication across agencies and boost transparency and accountability.
Nadungu Gagare, permanent secretary at the ministry, represented by Johnson Bareyi, director of e-Government, described the portal as a flagship project under Nigeria's e-Government Masterplan 2.0. "Our mandate is not simply to deploy technology but to use technology to improve governance and public service delivery," Gagare said.
The platform supports the federal government's broader digital transformation drive, including the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy and the Digital Public Infrastructure programme.
The system will link with the Nigerian Digital Exchange, letting approved government agencies share data safely and cutting the burden on citizens to submit identical documents repeatedly to different institutions.
Gagare called on all ministries, departments and agencies to plug their digital services into the portal to expand what's available to the public.
Ibrahim Adeyanju, managing director of Galaxy Backbone, said the portal tackles the problem of scattered government services by offering one place to find public services. He noted it fits within Nigeria's Digital Public Infrastructure and works alongside existing digital identity, payment and government data exchange systems.
The soft launch will bring selected agencies on board, collect user feedback and allow refinements before rolling out nationally, Adeyanju added.
Testing across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones and the Federal Capital Territory produced encouraging results. Olumbe Akinkugbe, executive director of Digital Exploration and Technical Services at Galaxy Backbone, reported that 184 people participated in the exercise.
Over 80 percent found the platform easy to use. About 88 percent successfully found government services, and 71 percent said the platform ran fast or very fast.
Roughly 91 percent said they'd use the portal, while 99 percent would recommend it to others, Akinkugbe noted. The pilot phase uncovered areas needing work, particularly user registration, image capture and one-time password delivery.
Galaxy Backbone plans to boost security, enhance performance, add more agencies and roll out email and WhatsApp verification during testing. More government bodies will join the platform over time, expanding the services on offer.
