…rank Edo high on e-procurement, wrap up 2-day study tour
By John Ewah and Violet Obamwonyi
Edo State, Nigeria, has been on the national, continental and world maps of the e-procurement system since the World Bank proclaimed Edo as the leading State in e-procurement in Nigeria, after awarding 38 contracts in four pilot Ministries: a figure which has risen to 72 since the declaration.
Governor Godwin Obaseki launched the State’s electronic public procurement system in July 2021, to engender a transparent and accountable process in the State’s public procurements and supplier exchange.
The State, through thoughtful leadership, has been able to manage its physical and technological space to produce a vibrant public service capable of policy enunciation and implementation, with a workforce capable of thinking along result-oriented lines. This has aided the procurement and many other financial processes in the State which today are driven by technology.
Edo’s strides in e-procurement have attracted the attention of nationals and sub-nationals in their quest to improve their public procurement system using Edo State as a study tool. The Nigeria Governors’ Forum had earlier this year (2022) in February, sent a delegation to Edo to understudy its e-procurement system.
Edo State Government yet again received delegates from The Gambia Public Procurement Authority who were in Benin City on a tour to understudy the e-procurement solution currently applicable in the State. The first of the two-day event which held on October 19th 2022 at the Festival Hall, Government House, Benin City, acquainted the Gambian delegates with robust insights into the State’s e-procurement solution, covering areas such as e-GP Project Management and Governance, e-GP Procurement, e-GP Readiness and Rollout, Procurement Business Processes, Data Readiness, Data Centre, e-GP Interface, Technology Architecture, among others.
Welcoming the delegates, the Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, represented by the Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu, emphasized the need for human capacity development through technology, stating that the e-procurement solution by the State Government was made possible through technology-driven efforts.
According to Obaseki: “When the current administration came into power, the vehicle of the Government was faulty and could not move, because the engine, which is the civil service, was faulty. We needed to upgrade its performance to be in line with present realities which would enable everyone in the system to move from the analog to digital system of operation.
“Without mincing words, Edo State runs the only paperless Government in Nigeria. I can attend to files even while I am travelling. We do not go on recess as a Government and keep files pending. We have discovered that to fight corruption we have to leverage technology. The tech-driven system has also been implemented in our education system, tax administration and other sectors. Anyone who wants to work with the Edo State Government must be ICT-complaint.”
While urging the delegates to focus on the goal of their progressive drive towards a more efficient system, the Governor said: “It is difficult to get people to buy into some of these reforms, but as you move on, people will understand that the reforms were not carried out to replace them with technology or make them lose their jobs, but to rather enhance productivity, improve efficiency and provide quality service delivery. You are therefore in the right place with the right people who will take you through our e-procurement system. We will be more than happy to also collaborate and have exchange programs with the Gambian Government especially in tourism because Edo is the home of culture and artifacts”
In his opening remark, the Managing Director, Edo State Public Procurement Agency, Mr. Henry Imogiemhe Idogun, noted that the visit was an opportunity for both parties to cross-fertilize ideas.
According to Idogun, “Your coming to Edo would be a good learning experience. We are not exactly where we want to be but we have made progress. So I see this as an opportunity for us to cross-sectionalize ideas about what we have done and how we have gotten to where we are. We will share everything with you. Edo is the most hospitable State in Nigeria and we are going to be very generous with information.
“We may not be the richest State in Nigeria but we have been managing our resources prudently and this has made it possible for us to deliver the dividend of good governance to the majority of our people. The Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, with his rich background in investment banking, is always very apt in adopting global best practices that make governance transparent, accountable and provide value for money.”
Idogun noted that the trust between the government and the governed is very important as citizens would only be willing to pay their taxes when they see that the public financial space is efficient, transparent and accountable, hence the decision by the current administration under the leadership of Governor Obaseki to reform the civil service, taxation system and the procurement space.
Speaking on behalf of the Gambian delegates, Ms. Ndey Anta Taal, Project Manager, Gambia Fiscal Management Development Project (GFMDP), explained that The Gambian Government has embarked on critical reforms, with e-procurement as a core part of the reform process.
The GFMDP according to Taal, is a $35 million Dollar project funded by the World Bank, aimed at increasing the fiscal space of the country and targeting mainly revenue generation activities which include the adoption of an e-procurement system.
Taal said: “At the moment, Gambia is embarking on critical reforms which involve reforming the procurement system. We are introducing the integrated tax administration system, reforming the public enterprises sector which is targeting state-owned entities; e-procurement is a critical part of the reform process. Before coming on this study tour, we conducted a comprehensive e-readiness assessment which highlighted critical recommendations in terms of the journey for Gambia to move away from the traditional paper-based procurement to an electronic and digital procurement system.”
“The readiness report highlighted selected countries which included two States in Nigeria, for which Edo is one. So the delegation which comprises officials from different key stakeholders were sent to understudy the e-procurement system in Nigeria to ascertain how they embarked on the journey, the opportunities provided and challenges experienced, so that we can learn how to overcome such bottlenecks”, Taal added.
In his presentation, Mr. Solomon Affun, Project Coordinator, States Fiscal, Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS), noted that Edo’s strides in the e-procurement space is worth commendation.
According to Affun, “We have been here previously, that is, the Nigeria Governors Forum with about 10 States, in February last year, but now, internationally, Edo State is being understudied. Just last month, we had a virtual session with Liberia and Edo was part of that session. That led the Government of Liberia to be able to publish their bids. So I think Edo needs to make some noise about their achievements especially in the e-procurement space”.
“Edo started reforms long before SFTAS, and because of this and the background profile of the Governor, he was chosen to Chair the STFAS committee at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. This tour is all about Edo’s reforms, how they are implemented and also sustained”, Affun added.
The Project Manager Africa, Open Contracting Partnership, Ms. Andie Okon, guided the delegate through the concept of open contracts and procurement data and its usefulness in carrying out procurement reforms in The Gambia. This, according to her, would enable citizens to know what projects the government is doing per time and aid them in verifying such projects.
The delegates were also led to the Ministries of Finance and Health on the second day of the tour, where they were acquainted with reforms in the State’s financial administration and the health sector which has witnessed significant interventions through the State’s Primary Health Care program, the Edo Health Insurance Scheme (EdoHIS) and other health improvement initiatives by the State Government.
The John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA) was another port of call by the delegates who were taken round facilities at the Academy and kept abreast with the capacity building drive of Governor Godwin Obaseki in the public service which birthed the Academy.
Following a tour to Edo State, known for its rich culture and history spanning thousands of years, the delegates were compelled to visit the Benin National Museum where they enjoyed a rich blend of culture and history through stories told by archaeological artifacts and other pieces of historical relics housed by the museum. They also visited the popular and ancient Igun Street in Benin City known for bronze-casting.
Edo State Government, through technology, continues to make the business-to-government purchase and sales of supplies, work and services, through the Internet and other information and networking systems, easy and seamless.
