27th September, 2023
In an attempt to ensure understanding and due process in public procurement in the health sector of Lagos State, the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency has held a roundtable discussion with stakeholders in the hospital sector in the State.
Speaking at the event, the Director-General of the Agency, Mr. Fatai Idowu Onafowote, reminded Medical Directors of the 28 General Hospitals and the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) that as Accounting Officers, they have a responsibility for ensuring compliance to due process in the public procurement process of their various facilities.
The Director-General urged the Medical Directors to constitute functional Procurement Planning Committees comprising of heads of department and unit in their facilities, stressing that needs assessment is very crucial in procurement.
Onafowote pointed out that in recognition of the peculiarities of the operating environment of the health facilities where health emergencies involving human lives occur rather frequently, the Lagos State Public Procurement Law has provision for emergency procurement to take care of such emergency situations.
He, however, stressed that the public procurement law does not permit a situation where all procurement made by health facilities in the State is treated as emergency, adding that the health facilities must have their procurement plans and adhere to such plans as much as this is practically possible.
He revealed that the Agency had secured the approval of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to onboard the procurement process of the 28 General Hospitals in the State as well as the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital on the e-procurement platform of the State, adding that the integration of the procurement process of the health facilities on the e-procurement platform would facilitate transparency, accountability and enhance the ease of doing business with the health facilities.
Also speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Health Service Commission, Dr. Ademuyiwa Eniayewun, enjoined the Medical Directors to always feel free to consult and engage with the Director-General of the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency and the Director of Procurement in the Commission with a view to resolving any public procurement issues in their various facilities.
Eniayewun also charged the Medical Directors to develop short, medium and long term plans to guide their public procurement and activities.
Some of the Medical Directors who spoke at the event pointed out that their health facilities were being overwhelmed as a result of the large influx of patients from other States of the Federation who come to Lagos to benefit from the health initiatives of the Lagos State Government being implemented by the General Hospitals in the State and LASUTH.
As part of the efforts to ensure that the deployment of e-procurement system does not suffer any hitch, laptops, scanners and printers were distributed to the Procurement Officers of the health facilities at the event by the Agency.
The roundtable discussion was also attended by accountants, procurement officers of the health facilities as well as pharmacists and representatives of the State Treasury Office, Office of Internal Audit, Office of State Auditor-General, among others.