The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Daser David, has urged the Federal Character Commission (FCC) to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), technology and data-driven governance to promote fairness, transparency and objectivity in recruitment and compliance processes.
Daser made the call while presenting a paper titled “Technology, Data and Institutional Effectiveness in Public Governance” at the FCC’s 2026 Executive and Management Leadership Retreat in Ekiti State. The retreat was themed “Repositioning the Federal Character Commission for Institutional Renewal, Leadership Cohesion and National Relevance.”
He described the Federal Character Principle as one of the quiet foundations of Nigeria’s national stability, stressing that its implementation must go beyond policy declarations.
“The Federal Character Principle is one of the quiet foundations of our national stability. It is a promise that, in our diversity, no one is left out. But that promise must be more than words on a page. It must be something the Commission can see, measure, defend and deliver; recruitment by recruitment, agency by agency, year by year,” Daser said.
The DBI boss noted that institutions that would remain effective and relevant are those that embrace technology and data to improve service delivery, adding that the Commission must reposition itself to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving digital era.
He, however, cautioned that technology alone cannot guarantee fairness, insisting that human judgment must remain central to decision-making.
“Technology and data will not, by themselves, deliver fairness. People and sound judgement will always remain at the centre of this work. But when used wisely and responsibly, these tools can help the Commission see more clearly, act more confidently and demonstrate its fairness more transparently than ever before,” he stated.
Daser proposed a strategic partnership between the Federal Character Commission and the Digital Bridge Institute to develop technology platforms, strengthen national data capabilities, build workforce capacity and provide technical advisory support for the Commission’s digital transformation.
He also recommended the adoption of a comprehensive data governance and privacy policy in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act, alongside a standardized digital template for recruitment and compliance reporting across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Other recommendations included deploying a pilot representation dashboard for government agencies and strengthening the Commission’s recruitment portal to integrate vacancy advertisements, applications, compliance monitoring and records management into a single digital platform.
Highlighting DBI’s capacity to support the reforms, Daser said the Institute, with campuses across the six geopolitical zones, trains public servants in data analytics, cybersecurity and emerging technologies.
“We stand ready to partner with the Commission through staff capacity development, executive briefings and technical advisory services so that this transformation does not have to be undertaken alone,” he said.
He identified skilled personnel, reliable infrastructure, quality data, inter-agency collaboration and institutional readiness as key requirements for successful implementation, recommending the establishment of a small but highly competent data unit supported by continuous professional training.
Daser concluded that technology should complement, rather than replace, human judgment, stressing that fairness, transparency and accountability must remain at the heart of the Federal Character Commission’s mandate.
