Procurement can serve as instrument to chart course out of economic depression – Ambode

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday said procurement can serve as an instrument to chart the course out of economic depression.

The governor, who spoke while declaring open a two-day training for civil servants, tagged: “Public Procurement in a Depressed Economy: Emerging Issues and Challenges,” in Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, said there was the need for civil servants to maintain and pursue quality.

“There is need to examine how procurement decisions cannot only be creatively tailored to fit into available lean resources in a depressed economy, but could also be used as an instrument to chart the course out of economic depression.

“procurement, as a public service function must be given exceptional attention, especially when there is paucity of funds and economic depression. Today however, it is seen as a crucial pillar of services delivery for governments and a strategic tool for achieving key policy objectives: from budget accountability, to spending efficiency, to buying green and improving outcomes in health, and promoting socially responsible suppliers into the global value chain,” said Ambode, who was represented by the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Benson Oke.

According to Ambode, strategic public procurement could also significantly support a more circular economy and transform supply-chain business models, given the magnitude of its size in government spending and its predominant role in delivering some of the most resource-intensive public services such as infrastructure.

He said this called for an approach that not only enabled efficiency, growth and value for money, but also accomplished strategic goals linked to a broader understanding of sustainability, cutting across both environmental and social objectives.

The governor stated that there were a number of challenges that faced when rolling out strategic public procurement, one of which, he said, was a lack of understanding of the benefits of sustainable procurement among politicians and budget holders.

“Public procurement is subject to many pressures, from cutting costs to meeting the demands of internal users and the public. These and many others are the issues that this training will address and I hope that you all will participate actively and constructively.

“In arguing for the pursuit of quality even in the face of a depressed economy, I proceed on the basis that the delivery of value to citizens is the fundamental objective of any democratically-elected government and that, in contemporary times, the delivered value must be delivered to the highest possible standard because citizens have become sophisticated and exposed to the standards of governance in other climes such that their expectations have been conditioned to demand and insist on compliance with global trends in governance and public administration at all levels of governance.

“Meeting these expectations is the central challenge for governments in contemporary times, even in the face of lean resources. For one, a critical examination will reveal how civil servants can creatively utilize data to generate ideas and communicate government actions and performances in order to ensure positive perception (or, in the least, accurate perception) of government procurement decisions by the citizens,” he explained.

Ambode, therefore, challenged the Lagos State Public Service to come up with data-backed and data-inspired ideas that would ensure and assure the quality of the government’s procurement activities.

Speaking, Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, said the training was all about providing value for money in a competitive world of depressed economy following due process.