The Director-General, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, Mr. Fatai Idowu Onafowote, has stressed the need for more effective collaboration and partnership among all regulatory public procurement agencies in the country.
Onafowote stated this while addressing a delegation of officials of the Rivers State Bureau of Public Procurement who were in Lagos to understudy the e-governance procurement system of the State.
The Director-General pointed out that experience sharing among public procurement bodies and procurement experts would assist in ensuring efficient resource management at all the levels of government and enhance compliance with international best practice in procurement in the country.
Onafowote affirmed the continuous support of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration in the State for the modest achievements the Agency had recorded, particularly in the area of deployment of technology to the e-procurement process which he said had greatly enhanced efficiency, transparency and accountability in government.
He acknowledged the good work being carried out by the Rivers State Government in the area of infrastructural development and the policy of giving 70 percent advance payment to contractors handling state government’s projects.
Onafowote noted that the policy was in order as long as there were adequate resources that would enable the government meet its other financial obligations.
Permanent Secretary, Office of Works, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure in the State, Adebayo Odusanya, enjoined them to learn the operation of the e-procurement system which the office had been using since 2019 as one of the pilot MDAs onboarded on the e-procurement platform of the State.
