Edo Govt Seeks RoLAC's Assistance in Expansion of e-Procurement

By Lucky Isibor 

The Edo State government has appealed to the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption  (RoLAC) programme to assist in the expansion of the electronic procurement it has embarked on to ensure transparency and accountability in the state public procurement processes. 

              Governor Godwin Obaseki

The General Manager of the Edo Edo State Public Procurement Agency,  Henry Idogun who made the appeal at the  dessemination, lesson learning and close out event of RoLAC programme held in Benin City on Thursday, 26 January pointed out that RoLAC has assisted the agency in the amendment of the state procurement law which is now one of the best in the state, adding that e-Procurement is being piloted in some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and need assistance to expand the platform to all the MDAs. 

While also appealing to RoLAC to assist the Edo State Public Procurement Agency in the area of price intelligence, Idogun noted that, "RoLAC helped us to prepare our new procurement law which is now one of the best in the sub region. 

"They have assisted us in capacity building for our procurement officers and even the press, on procurement monitoring, and in so many areas; creating awareness about what we're doing. They've also helped us to develop working tools that have assisted us to increase our efficiency in many areas. 

"We want them to assist us in the area of price intelligence. As a government, we are also looking for ways to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people within the meagre resources available to government, so price intelligence will help us to have value for money and reduce cost.

"As the world is going digital, we would want them to assist us with e-procurement where you can stay anywhere in the world and win contract from Edo State government. We are piloting this e procurement in some MDAs. We would like to expand that e-procurement to more MDAs and we've not been able to do that because of paucity of fund as the funfs available to government is being competed for by so many activities in various MDAs. If RoLAC can come and help us expand e-procurement, it will be very good for the government, the  contractors and the citizenry".

In his welcome address, the National Programme Manager of RoLAC, Danladi  Tanko noted that the success recorded by RoLAC in the state would not have been possible without the enabling environment created by the Edo State government to intervene.

Danladi Tanko who was represented by    Oluwatoyin Badejogbin noted that, "the programme worked in 4 components: criminal justice reform, increasing access to justice for women, children and persons with disabilities, improving the performance of anti-corruption agencies, civic engagement in criminal justice and anti-corruption reforms.

The Minister of State, Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hon. Clem Agba in his remarks noted that the dessemination, lesson learning workshop was apt adding that the objectives of RoLAC aligns with the National Development Plan (NDP 2021-2025), which he said are to improve justice and the rule of law by providing training for judiciary personnel and

ensuring strong partnership with law enforcement agencies. 

"This workshop could not have come at a more auspicious time

than now that the current phase of the programme is coming to an end. A review of the issues, problems, successes and lessons is very crucial as we move into the next phase of the programme". 

While enumerating the achievements of RoLAC programme in Edo State, Clem Agba who was represented by the Deputy Director, International Cooperation Department of the ministry, Mr. Johnson Baraye, said :"permit me to state some of the significant achievements made by the project in the cause of implementation in Edo State. 

"The programme supported the launch of Nigeria's first National Sexual Offenders Register; the programme supported the Edo state government to establish its first Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC);

 programme is supporting the Edo State Public Procurement Agency (EDPPA) to improve transparency, accountability, and integrity in procurement procedures;

the programme support Edo state to adopt Sentencing Guidelines for Offences Against the State, Person, Public

Order, Morality, Homicide, Property and Corruption Practice Direction; the programme, developed and adopted the first Edo State Complaints Handling Policy for Court Users; the programme supported the reforms, Sentencing Guidelines and Plea Bargain Manuals were adopted in Edo

state, among others".

Declaring the event open, Chief Judge of Edo State, Honourable Jusistice Joe Acha commended the Governor Godwin Obaseki led administration for providing the enabling environment for RoLAC to perform, noting that all the necessary physical infrastructure were provided which went a long to contribute to the success of the programme. 

According to Justice Acha, "We are sure Edo State will be part of RoLAC 2, the second phase of the programme because of our own contributions; you have to provide the enabling environment for RoLAC to come in, the participatory aspect of it, contribution from the beneficiary. Edo State has done very well with the support of the government in setting up some infrastructure for RoLAC to come and work.  RoLAC for now does not set up infrastructure, they train personnel, because they found Edo to be a very fertile ground where they can work, that's why the success and we're hoping that more will be achieved when they come back for the second phase".

The Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) programme  is funded by the European Union under the 11th European Development Fund.  It is implemented by the British Council – originally in 4 states (Adamawa, Anambra, Kano and Lagos).  Edo became a focal state in 2019 following representations made by the state government to the European Union.