Kwara State under Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed set the tone for performance contract appraisal in public governance in the country

Abdulfatah Ahmed, chemist and ex-banker, is heralding a quiet revolution in Kwara State. Since becoming governor in 2011, Ahmed has driven governance with private sector concepts such as appraisals and performance contracts. This is based on the rationale that concepts which have created phenomenal growth in the banking sector can be successfully applied to public sector reform.

Performance contracting is a means of improving the performance of public organisations and officials based on identified targets, agreed performance indicators, critical success factors, and resource availability. It entails affected officials agreeing to a set of indices against which their performance will be measured as well as the clear division of roles and responsibilities. Organisations also commit to specific standards of service delivery. Given that these targets are usually published, they also provide a chance to implement participatory governance.

Although the current rave at the federal level, performance contracting was introduced in Kwara in January 2012, seven months before its introduction at the centre. Since then, Ahmed directed his commissioners, permanent secretaries and heads of other government agencies to draw up quarterly work plans, including timelines, resource requirements and critical success factors, which were then approved in council and shared with the general public.

The work plans are based on the Medium Term Sector Strategy (MTSS), a four-year plan drawn up at a policy retreat convoked by Ahmed within a month of becoming governor, which outlines policy thrusts, strategies, key performance indicators and performance timelines for all ministries, departments and agencies in the state, based on fund availability.

Although the strategy has been in place for less than a year, Ahmed is keen to ensure that his administration's development plans, as enshrined in MTSS and compressed into the programme of Shared Prosperity, achieve the anticipated positive impact on the people.

Last August, a committee to review the performance of the MDAs in line with the MTSS was empanelled by the state government.

Inaugurating the committee in Ilorin, the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, who is also the chairman, said as the current administration had passed its first year in office, it was necessary to review the activities of its key bodies in order to enhance performance towards meeting government's stated objectives. Outlining the committee's terms of reference, Gold said it was to assess the performance of MDAs in the state based on their compliance with the MTSS.

The committee is also to identify an implementation road map for MDAs for the next year based on current realities and needs of the people of Kwara State. The MTSS, he said, is the current administration's four-year rolling plan which outlines the policies, programmes and key performance indicators for implementation by relevant bodies.

Gold charged members to see their assignment as a call to duty and approach their deliberations with upmost diligence, objectivity and fairness, bearing in mind that the governor was focussed on delivering shared prosperity to the people on a timely and efficient basis.

Performance

Although the committee is yet to submit its report to Ahmed, early results indicate that the key ministries critical to the Shared Prosperity such as Works and Transport, Education, Energy, Water Resources and Agriculture have made considerable progress towards the set objectives.

For example, the Works and Transport Ministry has rehabilitated 900 kilometres of urban and rural roads, including those inherited from the previous administration, as well as those started by the current administration which are at various stages of completion. The government has also intervened on federal roads in the state, including the 14-kilometre Kulende-UITH Hospital Road, while work on Fate Road, Ilorin, and Ajase-Ipo Offa Road are currently ongoing, In addition, the state government is set to rehabilitate the Kishi-Kaiama Road at N6 billion following the Federal Ministry of Work's approval. In addition, under the government's preventive maintenance policy, its Operation No Pothole is getting rid of gullies on Ilorin roads as well as intervening on deteriorating urban roads through a monthly N30 million allocation to the Kwara State Road Maintenance Agency.

In the water sector, the government has moved closer to its target of 500 metres access to potable water with the provision of 180 boreholes across the state, rehabilitation of Pepele Waterworks which serves 10 communities in Ilorin East Local Government Area, expansion of semi-urban/urban waterworks and the ongoing second phase multi-billion naira Ilorin Water Reticulation Project, which is intended to achieve total water coverage in the state capital.

In the education sector, the ministry has so far rehabilitated 200 blocks of secondary school classrooms, overhauled the Kwara State School for Special Needs, Ilorin, and rehabilitated the ultra-modern Educational Resource Centre, while the governor has laid the foundation for the N1.4 billion International Vocational Centre, Ajase Ipo.

In the health sector, where the Ahmed administration also has a target of 500-metre access to quality health care, the committee heard that the rehabilitation of Ilorin, Offa, Omu-Aran, Share and Kaiama General Hospitals is nearing completion, while modern hospital equipment have been supplied to 13 general hospitals and 33 primary health centres while plans are on to construct three new general hospitals by 2015. Furthermore, it was revealed that another five general hospitals were pencilled for rehabilitation when the current ones are fully completed.

Perhaps realising the importance of regular electricity to the people and the economic growth of the state, the government has also prioritised the energy sector. As of this month, the committee was informed, the Ministry of Energy is at 90 per cent implementation of budgeted capital expenditure. This translates into 115 electricity projects, comprising rural and urban electrification, supply of transformers and provision of streetlights in Ilorin metropolis.

Background

Ahmed's objectives for introducing Performance Contracting are clear: "In an era of finite fiscal resources, we have to ensure optimal allocation of resources as well as timely delivery of development programmes to the people based on published timelines. Besides, the people need to know what we are doing, when and with what resources.

The public service is critical to this effort. That is why we have introduced Performance Contracts to inculcate system-wide efficiency based on empirical planning and evaluation. We are setting targets against which to benchmark our performances," said the governor during a pre-cabinet meeting with commissioners last January.

At a subsequent meeting with the Head of Service, Alhaji Dabarako Mohammed, Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, Alhaji Adelodun Ibrahim, and permanent secretaries, Ahmed further outlined his vision of service reforms driven by performance contracting. "We need to reduce our jobs into measurable deliverables. The time has come to move away from career progression based on tenure to one based on the results of performance appraisal. As permanent secretaries, you must be on top of this situation. All government officials must have clearly defined job roles against which their performance will be assessed.

We will look at key performance indicators, critical success factors and resource requirements. With the introduction of performance contracting, we are going to eliminate godfatherism by creating a level playing field for all," the governor said.

While directing the Head of Service to supervise the delineation of measurable deliverables for each ministry, Ahmed said his administration was driven by a desire to ensure that service delivery is optimised and that the people's expectations are met on a timely basis. He announced the government's intention to introduce monitoring and evaluation as part of performance contracting. Under the scheme, he said all inputs, outputs, outcomes and impacts of all policies, programmes and projects will be monitored and evaluated.

According to Ahmed, "In the spirit of transparency, we are opening ourselves to our people so they will know what government is doing to enhance their well-being and also be able hold us to our commitments to implement projects and programmess within a specified period."

Since then the government has held 10 fortnightly peer review sessions as part of performance contracting to ensure timely implementation of programmes under MTSS. Each session, chaired by the deputy governor, Elder Peter Kisira, reviews the performance of three MDAs as benchmarked against the performance indicators outlined in the MTSS. An interesting aspect of the peer review sessions is that each ministry's presentation is rigorously scrutinised, according to Mohammed. "

This is a serious assignment and we treat it as such. Peer review meetings are our way of ensuring high-performance in the public service and also motivating permanent secretaries as administrative heads of their ministries to continuously focus on achieving set targets and, therefore, accelerate the process of governance. It is also an opportunity to identify any challenges and bring them to the governor's attention for timely resolution," he said.

Chairman of the State Civil Service Commission, Alhaji Adelodun Ibrahim, charged civil servants to work according to targets and monitor what is achieved in terms of positive impact on people and communities.

Seven months later, the state government has made good on its promise. According to Mohammed, ministries drew up quarterly action plans for the next two quarters which have been published in line with Ahmed's emphasis on transparency and openness. Gold's committee's report will show the extent to which performance contracts have moved Ahmed closer to the Kwara of his dreams.

Akorede is senior special assistant on media and communication to the Kwara State governor.