Edo procurement agency warns lawmakers against awarding contracts without tenders board approval

The Edo State Procurement Agency has said any contract awarded by Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, without the approval of the tenders board will attract two years jail or a fine of not less than N2 million.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Henry Idogun, disclosed this during the training of members of the Edo State House of Assembly Standing Committee on Tenders Board, other members of the house and some staff on the state public procurement legal framework.

Idogun, who told the lawmakers that the provisions of public procurement law applied to all public bodies in the state including the legislature, noted that public procurement was critical for national development.

“1 want you to know that part of the provisions in the law states that there shall be no award of contract without the approval of the Tenders Board vested with the approving authority.

“Violation shall attract two years imprisonment or an option of fine not less than N2 million,” he said.

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He added that public procurement was a strategic management function that deals with the acquisition of external resources needed for public programmes and projects using public funds and following systemic processes.

He posited that public procurement constitutes a large proportion of the gross domestic product (25-30%) in developing and emerging market economies.

While taking the lawmakers through the overview of the state public procurement legal framework, he opined that the hallmark of an effective public procurement system was fairness, reliability, economy, efficiency, transparency, accountability and ethical standard.

Earlier in her welcome address, the Deputy Speaker and chairman of the House Standing Committee on Tenders Board, Maria Edeko, said the training was to enable the tenders board to carry out its activities from a well informed perspective.

Edeko, who said the tenders board has been inactive for years, noted that with the autonomy of the House, it has become imperative to have the training to ensure that board’s processes and activities are in compliance with extant laws.

She commended the management of the procurement agency for the robust engagement which she said would enhance the committee’s performance.

Among the lawmakers that attended the training are, Maria Edeko, the House, Deputy Speaker and chairman, Tenders Board Committee; Idiaye Yekini, Akoko-Edo; Sunday Ojezele, Esan South-East; Richard Edosa; Oredo West; and Charity Aiguobarueghian, Ovia North East 1 and majority leader of the house.