15th May, 2023
The Director-General, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, Mr. Fatai Idowu Onafowote, has stressed the need for more effective collaboration and partnership among all regulatory public procurement agencies in the country.
Onafowote stated this while addressing a delegation of officials of the Rivers State Bureau of Public Procurement who were in Lagos to understudy the e-governance procurement system of the State.
The Director-General pointed out that experience sharing among public procurement bodies and procurement experts would assist in ensuring efficient resource management at all the levels of government and enhance compliance with international best practice in procurement in the country.
Onafowote affirmed the continuous support of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration in the State for the modest achievements the Agency had recorded, particularly in the area of deployment of technology to the e-procurement process which he said had greatly enhanced efficiency, transparency and accountability in government.
He acknowledged the good work being carried out by the Rivers State Government in the area of infrastructural development and the policy of giving 70 percent advance payment to contractors handling state government’s projects.
Onafowote noted that the policy was in order as long as there were adequate resources that would enable the government meet its other financial obligations.
Permanent Secretary, Office of Works, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure in the State, Adebayo Odusanya, enjoined them to learn the operation of the e-procurement system which the office had been using since 2019 as one of the pilot MDAs onboarded on the e-procurement platform of the State.
The Permanent Secretary, Office of Infrastructure, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Olufemi Daramola, commended the team for taking the initiative to visit Lagos to understudy the e-procurement system of the State.
Deputy Manager, Ethics and Compliance, Rivers State Bureau of Public Procurement, Dukwe Philip Uku, who represented the Director-General of the Bureau, Igonibo Thompson, expressed appreciation to the Director-General and staff of the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency as well as the Staff of the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure for the warm reception accorded the team and for sharing their knowledge and experiences with them.
He pointed out that the study visit was both insightful and impactful, stressing that the visit was in line with the community of practice among procurement experts, where procurement professionals could share information, knowledge and ideas being canvassed by the World Bank.
During the visit, officials of the Agency explained the steps that were taking in the digitilisation of the public procurement process in the State beginning with the e-registration of service providers in 2019, the onboarding of 107 MDAs, training of personnel, engagement and sensitization of stakeholders provision of the necessary ICT tools, including laptops, printers and scanners for Procurement Officers of all onboarded MDAs.
The delegation was also given a practical demonstration of the operation of the e-procurement process covering all the stages involved in the award of contracts.
Other members of the five-man delegation are Samuel Chidobe, Kalada Ibiama, Jamaibi Numbere and Soala Warmate.