The Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination on Monday commenced a Technical Retreat to review and finalise the Fourth Quarter (Q4) 2025 and Annual Performance Assessment Report, in collaboration with Delivery Managers of the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit (CRDCU) and sector experts.
Declaring the retreat open, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination and Head of CRDCU, Hadiza Bala Usman, described the engagement as a defining moment for the Unit. She explained that the session was not merely about closing the 2025 reporting cycle, but about validating a fundamental shift in how government performance is measured and reported.
According to her, CRDCU remains the heartbeat of government accountability and the analytical engine room of the Presidency, tasked with translating the President’s vision into measurable outcomes across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
She stressed that the Q4 and Annual Performance Review process goes beyond routine bureaucracy, describing it as a rigorous validation exercise where every statistic, milestone and percentage must be accurate, verifiable and reflective of real progress on the ground.
Bala Usman highlighted the introduction of a refined assessment formula designed to move the system away from arbitrary scoring toward performance strictly measured against established baselines and agreed targets. She declared that the era of “scoring for the sake of scoring” was over, as the Unit intensifies its focus on tangible outcomes linked to Presidential Priority Areas.
She charged Delivery Managers and Sector Experts to approach the review with candour and professional rigour, interrogate areas of stalled progress, identify systemic bottlenecks, and ensure that high-impact deliverables remain aligned within the administration’s results-driven framework.
Looking ahead, the Special Adviser announced that with verified 2024 and 2025 performance data now available, MDAs would be required to set 2026 targets at a minimum of 25 percent above their 2025 actual achievements.
She cautioned that conservative target-setting would not be entertained, underscoring the administration’s commitment to ambitious and measurable growth.
She also emphasised the importance of clearly defined and mutually agreed evidence requirements among Sector Experts, Delivery Managers and MDAs to eliminate ambiguity and strengthen transparency in performance validation.
Bala Usman noted that the outcome of the retreat would form the foundation of the President’s annual briefing on government delivery, reinforcing CRDCU’s critical role in bridging policy design with citizen impact and ensuring sustained, verifiable national progress.
Also speaking, the Federal Team Lead of FCDO-PACE, Umaru Abu, commended Bala Usman and the CRDCU team for strengthening the culture of performance accountability across government. He acknowledged improvements in reporting and coordination, while urging the team to prioritise measurable impact in 2026.
Abu reaffirmed PACE’s continued support in building stronger systems and institutional capacity, encouraging sector experts to remain analytical and objective in assessing whether government initiatives are delivering meaningful outcomes for citizens under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
