By Lucky Isibor
The Federal Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has tasked Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and State Government Agencies utilising federal funds on the use of the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal (NOCOPO) in the planning, award and execution of contracts in their respective MDAs.
A Director in the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Aliu Aliu made the call at a one-day training on the use of the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal (NOCOPO) for procurement officers in Federal MDAs and State Agencies utilising federal funds in the South-South geopolitical zone organised by BPP in collaboration with the European Union Funded Rule of Law and Anti-corruption (RoLAC) Programme which is implemented by the International Institute for Democratic and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).
At the meeting held in Benin City on Monday, 15 April 2024, Aliu admonished participating procurement officers to ensure all information on any contract or procurement is uploaded on the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal (NOCOPO) as they will be held responsible for failure to do so in accordance with section 16(1)(b) of the Public Procurement Act 2007 and the directive of the Secretary to the Federal Government through Circular Ref Nos. PROC/OSGF/BPP/709/61 and PROC/OSGF/BPP/709/89 dated 30th June 2021 and 19th January 2022 respectively.
On why some state government agencies in the South-South were also included in the training, Aliu explained that: “Some state MDAs like higher institutions of learning benefit from some intervention funds from the federal government and the procurement law mandates that where at least 35% of the funds such MDAs use come from federal allocation, they are bound to use the federal process, consequently such MDAs will also be required to submit plans where they’re using federal government central funds like the Tertiary Education Tax Fund (TETFUND) and other intervention agencies. That’s one of the reasons they’re here.“Because of the transparency and the zeal for jobs to be successful, this NOCOPO platform is created so that citizens, CSOs can have an overview of what is going on and because the funds are coming from the federal government, they also need to have an overview for the states that are using federal government funds, hence we have representatives from the states so that they’re taught how to use the tools that make their work easier”.
While taking the participants on the essence of procurement planning, Aliu pointed out that procurement planning must commence before the preparation of a budget for the MDA (preferably in the last quarter of the year).
According to him, “Procurement is an integrated part of any project cycle and needs to be aligned and synchronized with other project activities to achieve desired outcomes. As a result, procurement planning is essential for the timely solicitation of quotations, bids or proposals; cost efficiency; the award of contracts and the delivery of inputs for the organisation.Effective procurement planning and preparation will produce more efficient and economical procurements which will deliver goods, works and services in an acceptable and timely manner.”
Welcoming participants to the training session, Ms Uche Nwokedi, the Edo State Programme Officer of RoLAC disclosed that a key objective of the programme is to strengthen the processes of public procurement and associated financial and fiscal systems. Nwokedi who was represented by the Edo State Associate Project Officer, Imonitie Omokhodion, disclosed further that the activity aimed to expose procurement officers to the principles of procurement planning, open contracting, use of NOCOPO portal and its features, allow trainees to have hands-on experience on how to use the portal under direct supervision from BPP procurement experts and improve the MDAs’ compliance to the Federal Government’s Circulars on the proactive disclosure of public procurement information to improve efficiency, transparency, and accountability of public procurement.
“The area of RoLAC that is supporting the organisation of this event is the third component of the programme that deals with the fight against corruption in the country at the federal level and at the state level. The programme does this by engaging state actors and non-state actors in enhancing transparency and accountability in processes and systems, particularly in procurement because that happens to be the first point of call for anybody who wants to talk about corrupt practices within our system.
“RoLAC has enjoyed robust partnership with the Bureau of Public Procurement at the federal level and Edo State Public Procurement Agency at the Edo State level.“The first session we had was with CSOs on how to access the portal and where they can make report. We, state actors are the ones that will populate the portal”.
High point of the training was the practical training on the use of the online NOCOPO platform to familiarise them with the workings of the platform, how to input contract data and file other reports on their MDA’s procurement from the planning stage to the final payment of contractors.The Rule of Law and Anti-corruption (RoLAC) programme is financed by the European Union and implemented by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).