Twelve years after the commencement of the Public Procurement reform, procurement entities at the Federal and State Government levels have come together towards having a common ground in the implementation of Public Procurement principles and procedures.
Announcing the birth of the National Public Procurement Forum (NPPF)-the umbrella body for the new union-, Special Adviser to the Delta State Governor on Due Process, Ms. Arinola Giwa Amu said the organisation has scheduled a National Conference on Public Procurement (NACOPP), for the 10TH and 11th of November, 2014 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
Giwa Amu who is also chair of the Conference Planning Committee (CNC) of the conference said the intention of the new body is to bring together actors and stakeholders in the public procurement process at the Federal and the State levels.
According to her the Theme of the Conference is “Public Procurement: a Tool for Good Governance” and it is the beginning of a new partnership between the Federal and the State Governments on the establishment of a synergy in the development and implementation of public procurement global best practices in the country.
She stressed “The economic status of Nigeria is fast evolving, as our Nation was recently rated as the biggest economy in Africa. It is also part of the MINT countries, comprising of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey. The MINT countries are regarded as the potential economic powerhouses of the future. This classification means that the economic growth and development of Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, processes and procedures that drive a good public procurement system have to be continuously improved”
According to her, though we have a federal system of government, where the federating units have rights to enact and implement independent laws. The Federal and the state governments have however decided to come together under a forum, called the NPPF in order to connectively improve the procurement system in the Country.
She said the Forum is made up of one procurement head representing each of the 6 geo-political zones, and the Bureau of Public Procurement at the Federal level. Membership of the forum from the geo-political zones will be rotational and be determined within each of the Zones.
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, is expected to declare the conference open and will inaugurate the National Public Procurement Forum (NPPF), steering committee. The DG BPP is the chairman of the steering committee, and the forum will have its secretariat based in Abuja to oversee its activities including organising the next National Conference on Public Procurement (NACOPP).
The Purpose of the Conference, the adviser said, is to achieve the following: To sensitize all relevant stakeholders on the need to adopt a nationwide public procurement system based on UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement helping to create greater awareness on the need to adhere to Due Process and ensure Value for Money in government expenditure; Provide an overview of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, at the Federal level, enumerating the achievements, challenges, and proposing the way forward; To emphasize the vital role a sound public procurement system plays in bringing about an effective and efficient service delivery to promote national development; and to encourage state governments who are yet to pass their public procurement law to do so in the interest of transparency, quality, competition and value for money.
“In order to achieve these goals, the conference shall have representatives from all the states of the federation and the Federal Government which will be represented by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). The Conference shall be a two day event. There shall be renowned Public Procurement speakers from around the World, including scholars and practitioners of public procurement”
Importantly, she continued, the public procurement reform in Nigeria has come to stay. This is because it is one sure way to ensure transparency, competition and quality in the public contracting and procurement system. Developing nations of the world are partly defined by their commitment to due process. We cannot afford to be left behind! One sure way of ensuring progress in the implementation of the public procurement procedures is to have a synergy between all levels of Government in its application.
