By Isaac Aimurie and Henry Oqua
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, received officials of the Bayelsa State Due Process Bureau, in Government House, Benin City, who were on a study tour of Edo government’s e-procurement process.
Welcoming his guests, Obaseki commended the Bayelsa State officials for coming to Edo to understudy the e-procurement process currently in use in the State, and added that “inter-state collaborations will improve the quality of governance in the south-south region and the nation at large.”
He stressed that “a transparent procurement process benefits everyone and it has to become a culture.”
“As a government, we encourage this kind of interaction and at the Governors’ Forum level; we encourage peer review to improve on what we are all doing.
“We do not need to go outside all the time. It is important today particularly with the paucity of resources that we put to greater use, the little we have. Poor procurement slows down development and progress,” the Governor said.
Shedding light on Edo’s experience, he said: “About 12 years ago, we had the privilege of seeking budget support facilities from the World Bank and the emphasis was on the need for a stronger procurement unit. Nobody wants to give you money, even if you want to raise money at the stock market, if they are not sure that you can spend it properly.
“We have one of the oldest e-procurement units in the country. We have moved from the analog era to the technology era in our procurement system in Edo State. We have a system where we procure properly. We have found that technology is the way to go. We now use technology to facilitate our procurement process in the State.
“Technology introduces a different level of transparency that will fight all forms of manipulations because it allows everyone to see the records at the same time, unlike manual process, thereby eliminating all forms of corrupt acts.
“The transparent procurement process has a lot of benefits for the state as it helps in so many ways. When procuring infrastructure and other services, it is important to have a robust system that becomes a culture. It is important because it’s in the best interest of the people, and the best approach to improving the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state. Federal allocations come straight from the Federation Account, but internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is difficult to collect. So we need a transparent process to account for it.”
In his remark, the Director General of the Bayelsa State Due Process Bureau, Aaron Timiye, commended the Governor for establishing a strong procurement process that “is higher than what is in Bayelsa State.”
“We are here to study the public procurement process, specifically the e-procurement system. We are here to exchange notes and ideas on e-procurement, and possible ways of improving our e-procurement process as Edo State is far ahead of Bayelsa State in terms of e-procurement,” he added.
