The Managing Director of the Edo State Public Procurement Agency (EDPPA), Henry Idogun, has said the state government has continued to boost the capacity of procurement officers in the state, noting that 18 Nigerian states have understudied the state government’s e-procurement model.
Idogun disclosed this during a training of procurement officers from the state-owned Ambrose Alli University (AAU), in Benin City.
He said over the past few months, over 18 states across the country have visited the state to understudy EDPPA’s system, noting, “We have also engaged delegates from Liberia who also understudied EDPPA. Our engagement with delegates from Liberia recently was done virtually and they contacted us for a peer review project. They heard what we are doing and they wanted to emulate some of the things we have implemented.”
The Managing Director said development can only be achieved when proper procurement processes are practiced, adding, “Edo State has been trying to deepen procurement reforms so that we can get our capital expenditure right because that is the only way we can grow and develop as a state.”
“We are always ready to share knowledge with people so that we learn from them; they can learn from us as well. We are better for it. AAU is a part and parcel of the state and they want to come, see and share knowledge so that when they get back to their school, they can conduct procurement in the most efficient way,” he added.
According to him, “It is not really about training them but this is a knowledge-sharing exercise. They are in academia and are always reading and studying and know a lot, while we are in public procurement practice. We will learn from them and they will learn from us and when they go back, they will not have any doubts on what to do when they want to conduct a procurement.”
The Acting Director, AAU Directorate of Procurement, Samuel Abu, said, “We are here to undergo a training on procurement processes as regards the technical aspects. We also need to learn how to digitize the procurement process.”
