STRATEGIC DATA GOVERNANCE: THE ADMINISTRATIVE EFFICIENCY TRIANGULATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILS

Abstract

This study examined strategic data governance and administrative efficiency in local government councils in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive correlational survey design. The population comprised the twenty-three Local Government Councils in Rivers State, with study elements comprising principal management officers, specifically the Head of Local Government Administration, the Head of Personnel Management, the Head of Finance and Supply, the Head of Budget and Economic Planning, and the Head of the Information and Communication Technology Unit, in each of the twenty-three local government councils in Rivers State, giving a total of one hundred and fifteen principal officers as respondents, all of whom were enumerated in a census. A structured questionnaire, validated by experts in office technology and management and subjected to a reliability test using Cronbach’s alpha, was used to collect data on three dimensions of strategic data governance, namely data quality management, data security and compliance, and data stewardship and accountability, and their relationship with administrative efficiency. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC) at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed strong, positive, and statistically significant relationships between all three dimensions of strategic data governance and administrative efficiency, leading to the rejection of the three null hypotheses formulated for the study. The study concludes that strategic data governance is a decisive determinant of administrative efficiency in local government administration and recommends the institutionalisation of formal data governance structures, continuous capacity building of principal management officers, and the deployment of secure digital data management systems across local government councils in Rivers State.