Federal Character Commission must embrace AI to ensure fairness — DBI

By Victor Ahiuma-Young
The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Bridge Institute, DBI, Mr. David Daser, has urged the Federal Character Commission, FCC, to embrace Artificial Intelligence, AI, technology and data-driven systems to promote fairness, transparency and objectivity in public sector 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, themed “Repositioning the Federal Character Commission for Institutional Renewal, Leadership Cohesion and National Relevance,” focused on strategies for enhancing the Commission’s effectiveness and relevance.

Speaking at the event, Daser described the Federal Character Principle as one of the quiet foundations of Nigeria’s national stability, stressing that the Commission must leverage digital innovation to strengthen the implementation of its constitutional mandate.

“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,” he said.

He noted that while technology alone could not guarantee fairness, it could significantly improve transparency, accountability and public confidence when combined with sound human judgment.
“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.”

Daser said strengthening the Commission through technology would ultimately strengthen Nigeria itself.
“If we get this right, we will not only be strengthening an institution; we will be strengthening the Nigerian project itself. That, I believe, is a responsibility worth committing to.”

To drive the Commission’s digital transformation, he proposed a strategic partnership between the FCC and the Digital Bridge Institute to develop technology platforms, strengthen national data capabilities, build workforce capacity and provide technical advisory services.

He also recommended the adoption of a comprehensive data governance and privacy policy in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act, the deployment of a standardised digital template for recruitment and compliance reporting across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the introduction of a representation dashboard, and the integration of recruitment, compliance monitoring and records management into a single digital platform.

Highlighting the Institute’s capacity, Daser said DBI, with campuses across the six geopolitical zones, was well positioned to support the Commission through training 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, however, cautioned that technology should complement, not replace, human judgment.

“Technology must never remove the human being from the decision-making process. Federal Character is ultimately about fairness among people. Digital tools should strengthen our judgement and improve efficiency, but they must never replace the careful, transparent and accountable decisions that only people can make,” he added.

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