Engineer David Bachir Lawal, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) says the newly-introduced electronic procurement (e-procurement) system can sanitise Nigeria’s economy of corrupt practices.
The SGF said this at a workshop organised by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) on e-procurement held recently at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
While delivering the keynote address, the SGF, represented by Mr. Mohammed Bukar, Permanent Secretary, General Services Office in the Office of the SGF, said the the e-procurement system will support Federal Government’s efforts in reducing corruption as it limits human activities through automation.
“Government considers that technology is critical to its determination to sanitise the business environment, by limiting human interface that pre-disposes transactions to corruption,” he says.
The workshop revealed how the Federal Government plans to roll out the e-Procurement system, which is expected to enhance the operations of Efficiency Unit of the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Engr. Ahmed Abdu, Acting Director-General of the Bureau, setting out the context and objectives of the workshop, noted that the new system will be deployed on a pilot scale in six selected Ministries, before being eventually rolled out to embrace the whole of the public sector.
The selected Pilot Ministries are: Federal Ministry of Health; Federal Ministry of Education; Federal Ministry of Agriculture; Federal Ministry of Transport; Federal Ministry of Water Resources; and Federal Ministry of Works, Power & Housing.
The workshop, which also featured a report on a recent e-procurement prepared among stakeholders and training in framework agreements, was facilitated by international experts from Canada and Bangor University, South Wales, UK and resource persons from Nigeria.
The event attracted representatives of stakeholder organizations, such as MDAs, information, communication and technology (ICT) establishments, private sector organizations doing business with the Federal Government and its agencies, civil society organizations and professional organisations.
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