I welcome everyone to another year and congratulate you on the successful completion of 2018. As it’s become tradition this season, many of you will have undertaken stock assessment of how 2018 fared for you, your loved ones and many of the things that might have interest you.

No matter what you faced in 2018, this New Year surely offers a lot to look forward to. For us at the Bureau of Public Procurement of the Government of Ekiti State, we are re-imagining our operations and looking forward to a very exciting year.

Our Bureau of Public Procurement was established by Law No. 2 of 2010 as the agency responsible for overseeing the procurement of goods, works, and services which drive government’s business and to the benefit of Ekiti people. In its short span, the Bureau has had a checkered history, going through three law amendments during the last administration.

At the pleasure of the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode FAYEMI, I recently assumed the position as Special Adviser on Procurement Matters and Director-General of the Bureau. The knowledge I have gathered in the last three weeks compares to none that I have had all my life. Being a procurement neophyte myself, I have invested in a lot of literature to help me chart a sharp focus in my new assignment.

One of the key lessons I have picked is that governments, everywhere, are the largest consumers in an economy, on average spending “45 to 65 percent of their budgets on public procurement, amounting to an approximate 13 to 17 percent of the GDP”. To me, this is profound, in that it speaks to the very crucial work that is expected of public procurement specialists and institutions.

I have also quickly learned that “if governments make concerted efforts to purchase environmentally- and socially-preferable products and services, their substantial buying power will drive the delivery of sustainable development policies and stimulate markets for sustainable products and services.”

I have held series of meetings with my colleagues at the Bureau to address how important our work is to the socio-economic development of our dear state. Together, we are resolved to be an enabler of sustainable and impactful delivery of government policies, programmes, and projects. We thank all of you for being part of our successes these past years.

We are all fired-up and are ready to serve our diverse clientele in 2019 and years to come. In 2019, we shall be introducing a range of innovative processes and products to aid our work. What’s more, we shall be adopting IT as a driver of those innovations. We believe that we have the support of our stakeholders to make EKSG-BPP the exemplar public institution, this part of the globe.

From my colleagues and I at the Bureau, have a blissful 2019.

Cheers!

Egghead ODEWALE
SA/DG
OOdewale@ekitistate.gov.ng