The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has conducted a capacity building training for more than forty civil society organisations (CSOs) in Ebonyi State on best practices in public sector procurement.  

The training is part of the public procurement component of the Nigeria State Accountability, Transparency, and Effectiveness (State2State) to strengthen governance structures in six states in Nigeria to improve their ability to plan and budget, raise revenues, increase civil society participation, and oversee service delivery in the health; education; and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sectors. 

In a keynote address, the Executive Secretary of the Ebonyi State Bureau of Public Procurement Uzoma Betty Ify, said that Ebonyi State is among the few states in Nigeria using e-procurement  platform in the procuring of goods, works and services which is acclaimed to be the “best practice” all over the world.  

She said “the critical concept of —”best value for money” lies at the heart of public procurement, adding that as public procurement process spans the whole life cycle from the initial conception and definition of the needs of the public service through to the end of the useful life of an asset or contract. 

Earlier, the Citizen Engagement Director and Advisory Team Lead for USAID- S2S, Ahmed Mohammed said that when properly managed, public procurement will limit corruption by about 70 percent in Nigeria. 

Ahmed encouraged participants to use the knowledge and skills acquired in the training to improve all sectors of the Ebonyi state public expenditure. “This will help the government to manage its limited resources and allocate it in accordance with priority,” he said.  

Ajah Chima Oliver of Development and Integrity Intervention Goal Foundation said that a major take home from the workshop is that the over-riding procurement policy requirement is that all public procurement must be based on value for money defined as the best mix of quality and effectiveness for the least outlay over the period of use of the goods or services bought.  

Public sector procurement in Nigeria is governed by the Public Procurement Act at federal level and the Ebonyi State Public Procurement and Related Matters Law, 2020 which encourages free and open competition and value for money, in line with internationally and nationally agreed obligations and regulations.