The Natioanl Coordinator of Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative (PRADIN), Mohammed Bougei Attah has noted that so far the 2011 Lagos state public procurement law appears to accommodate all elements required in the global procurement procedure.Mr. Attah who made the observation said the law stands out as the best in the Country so far because it is a people oriented law.
Attah who spoke in Lagos at the weekend as a lead trainer during the Lagos State Civil Society Partnership (LACSOP) training workshop organized by LACSOP in conjunction with the DFID-State Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI) and the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency observed that the law was constructively put together and fully recognized the role of the civil society organizations in carrying out oversight in the course of its implementation.
According to him, Lagos state so far is the only state that complied with the 2000 World Bank Country Procurement Assessment (CPAR) by further ensuring that the provisions of the law met with international standards.
He cited sections 2 (1) (a-e) and 4 in the Lagos public procurement law which stipulated and emphatically allow the board of the Lagos state Public Procurement Agency to be chaired by the state commissioner for finance as against other states where the governors sit as the chairmen of the boards.
A statement by Barr. Ayo Adebusoye , national secretary, PRADIN said Attah dismissed as unserious the decision of Delta, Kogi and Rivers states to fraudulently twist the law in favour of the state’s leadership.
He however said though the law recognized the important role of the civil society in the observance of the process as contained in section 28 (b), the Act failed to incorporate the critical role of professional organizations such as the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria(CIPSMN), the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) among others.
He therefore advised the Lagos State Government to consider filling the above gaps in the planned ammendment to the law while urging other states, such as Osun where the procurement law is currently repealed to emulate the Lagos state law and pass same for the benefit of the people.
