WORLD BANK TEAM VISITS LAGOS PROCUREMENT AGENCY TO ASSESS E-GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT SYSTEM
A three-man delegation of the World Bank has paid a five-day visit to the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency to assess the electronic-government Procurement (e-GP) system of Lagos State.
Speaking during the assessment visit, a Procurement Specialist with the World Bank, Engr. Akin Onimole, who led the three-man delegation, stated that the visit was a follow-up to the visit of the Regional Manager of the Bank to the Agency last year when the Agency requested the support of the Bank.
Engr. Onimole, who is also a former General Manager of the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, expressed delight at the remarkable achievements the Agency has made, particularly in the e-Government Procurement system in the State. He added that he was highly impressed by the practical demonstration of the e-GP system by officials of the Agency and the three MDAs that were visited for the assessment.
The World Bank Procurement Specialist, while describing the Agency as a trailblazer, disclosed the readiness of the Bank to give necessary support to the Agency and make it a model for others in the country.
Also speaking, a Rwanda-based World Bank e-GP Consultant and a member of the assessment team, Mr. Richard Migambi, stated that the visit was to enable the Bank to know exactly the level where the Agency is, regarding the deployment and operation of the e-Government Procurement system in the State.
Mr. Migambi noted that the e-GP system of the Agency is user-friendly, adding, however, that the system can be improved for better performance.
Another Procurement Specialist and member of the World Bank team, Mr Akeem Bello, also stated that he was impressed by the achievements of the Agency on the electronic Governance Procurement system.
He, however, observed that relevant documents guiding the operations of the Agency need to be reviewed and updated to reflect and accommodate new realities in public procurement.
While receiving the World Bank team, the Director-General, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, Mr.Fatai Idow Onafowote, expressed his appreciation to the World Bank for the positive response given to the Agency’s request for support aimed at enhancing the e-Government Procurement system of the Agency.
Giving a brief on the deployment of the e-Government Procurement system of the Agency, the Director-General explained that the Agency began the digitalization process in 2018 and currently has 159 Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the State already on-boarded on the e-Government Procurement platform of the State.
Mr. Onafowote added that the Agency currently has over 3,700 contractors registered on its data base as service providers either for goods, works or services, pointing out that the Agency is working on making the e-GP system sync with the Lagos State Government Revenue Portal to make the e-GP even more seamless and efficient.
The World Bank team was taken through a live demonstration of the e-GP system, from contract solicitation to contract evaluation from the point of view of the Agency as a regulator of public procurement in the State.
The team also visited three MDAs of the State – Ministry of Health, Office of Infrastructure and Office of Drainage and Water Resources – for an on-the-spot assessment of the e-Governance Procurement system from the point of view of MDAs as users of the system.
Speaking while receiving the World Bank officials in his office, the Permanent Secretary, Office of Drainage and Water Resources, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Engr. Mahmood Adegbite stated that the deployment of the e-procurement system has greatly enhanced the procurement process flow, enhanced efficiency and reduced the operational cost of his office.
Also during an assessment visit of the World Bank delegation to the Ministry of Health, the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics in the Ministry, Dr.Oluwatoyin Ijimakinwa, who spoke on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, informed the World Bank team that the deployment of technology to the public procurement system of the State has brought a lot of improvement to the State and has enhanced service delivery in the Ministry.
The World Bank team also visited the Office of Infrastructure, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure where the Director of Road Construction and Rehabilitation, Engr. Tokunbo Oyenuga, who received the team on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, also affirmed the efficiency which the government Procurement System has brought to service delivery of the Office.
In each of the three MDAs visited for on-the-spot assessment of the e-Government Procurement system by the World Bank team, there was a live demonstration of how the e-GP system is operated from the point of view of MDAs as Procuring Entities.
As part of their assessment, the World Bank delegation also held meetings with some service providers: Xenon Construction Limited, AT & S Investment and Pheman Peniel Consultant Limited.