21st February, 2024
Senior officials of the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) of the Republic of Liberia have embarked on a study tour to the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency to share experience on the e-procurement system being operated by the Agency.
Welcoming the Liberian delegation to Lagos State, the Director-General, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, Fatai Onafowote, expressed delight that the agency was considered as one of the two States in Nigeria the Liberian team had chosen to learn the implementation of the e-procurement system and the review of the Procurement Law from.
Onafowote pointed out that the study tour of the Liberian delegation to the Agency was in line with the community of practice in public procurement which emphasised the need for procurement professionals to interact and share experiences for the continuous improvement of the public procurement system.
He added that the Agency was ready to share its experience on the deployment of technology to the public procurement system of Lagos State as well as the review of the Public Procurement Law of the State with the Liberian team.
The Director-General explained that the digitalization of the public procurement system of the State began in 2019 when the Agency began the online registration of service providers on its database and also onboarded three pilot MDAs on the e-procurement platform.
He also revealed that a total of 140 MDAs of the State had been onboarded on the e-procurement platform of the State, adding the Agency also plans to onboard more MDAs of the State on the e-procurement platform.
He further disclosed that the Agency has implemented six e-procurement modules, including e-Registration, e-Publishing, e-Notification, e-Tendering, e-Evaluation and e-Award.
Onafowote also stated that despite the various challenges being encountered, the Agency has been resilient and well focused to achieve its objectives of full digitalization of the public procurement process and ensuring compliance with the Public Procurement Law of the State.
Speaking on the review of the Public Procurement Law, the Director-General explained that this required a lot of consultations between the procurement regulatory agency, the executive and legislative arms of Government and other categories of stakeholders to ensure mutual understanding and cooperation required for the successful implementation of the Law.
In his remarks at the event, the Executive Director, Public Procurement and Concessions Commission of Liberia who led a six-man delegation, Bodger Scott Johnson, explained that his country was desirous of understudying the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency’s e-procurement system and the process adopted in reviewing the Procurement Law of the Agency.
Johnson added that this became necessary following the support his country had secured from the World Bank for the implementation of an e-Government Procurement (e-GP) system and revision of the Procurement Law aimed at improving the efficiency and oversight of public procurement through the design of a roadmap for the modernization of the procurement system.
The Executive Director commended the Federal Government of Nigeria for the various forms of support the country has been giving to Liberia to overcome its challenges over the years.
While acknowledging the giant strides the Lagos State Public Procurement had made in promoting public procurement system, Mr. Johnson promised that he would ensure that the relationship between the Agency and his Commission is nurtured and sustained.
During the study tour, officials of the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency made a series of both theoretical and practical presentations on the e-procurement system to the six-man delegation of the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission of Liberia.
Other members of the delegation were Mr. Nathan N. Bengu, Director, Communications Division, Ms. Mauda A. Saye, Director, Training and Capacity Building Division, Mr. Derek Amadou Hill, Project Manager, LRA, Mr. Dakumu D. Togbah, Procurement Manager, Procurement Division and Mr. Emmanuel J. Morris, Information Technology Manager.
A Sierra Leone-based World Bank Senior Public Sector Specialist, Mr. Mohammed Jalloh, also accompanied the Liberian delegation to Lagos on the study tour.