The commitment of the present administration to reposition the Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement for effective service delivery and in consonance with global best practices has been stressed.
The Special Adviser /Director General, Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement, Mr. O’Seun Odewale reiterated this during an interactive webinar session with key stakeholders and public institution clients in Ekiti State.
Odewale who submitted that in the light of the passage and ascent of the new public procurement Law No 4 of 2020 and by extension the announcement on the full establishment of Procurement department and Procurement Officers cadre in the public service, noted that the interactive session has become necessary as part of the activities to appraise stakeholders with the provisions of the new law and proposed regulations as well as the tenets of the Public Procurement Reform Program (PPRP) of the current administration.
Highlighting features of the new law vis-a-vis the previous editions of the law, the Director General maintained that efforts would be intensified to ensure that targets are met deploying the Public procurement reform programme principles of Law/Regulation and Process Reform, Law/Regulations and Process Enforcement, Procurement Officers cadre establishment ,e-procurement implementation among others.
Speaking on “public procurement instrument in Ekiti State” the theme of the webinar, the Ekiti State head of service, Mrs. Peju Babafemi described public procurement as one of the government most appropriate means of responding to the people’s need not only to deliver public goods or services but also ensure value for money.
Babafemi hinted that developing countries strive to reform their public procurement system to comply with 2004 Johannesburg declaration by multilateral and bilateral development institutions and other participants in the organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) to achieve this objective of transparency and openness in public procurement, promote public confidence in procurement procedure as well as achieve the principles of accountability, fairness, integrity among others, and guarantee prudent management of scarce financial resources.
In his opening remarks, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji said all hands must be on deck to ensure an overall success of the whole process, adding that a strong public procurement system is the hallmark of good governance.
Festus ABOSEDE
Assistant Director, Information