By Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti
In order to ensure transparency and accountability in the process of governance, stakeholders came together in Ekiti state to brainstorm on enlightenment processes to be able to sensitize and educate the citizens on their right in following guidelines for necessary inquiry on government activities to achieve openness for the benefit of the people .
This was the focus of a workshop organized by the Public and Private Development Centre, PPDC in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital with support from MacArthur Foundation.
The sensitization program tagged Sub-National Public Procurement Boot Camp was attended by relevant stakeholders in the state which include Civil Society Organizations, CSOs, media, Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP in the state, Ministry of Justice.
A senior communication officer of the PPDC, Nnenna Eze stated that the purpose of the program was to empower citizens to ensure people get value for money and better service delivery .
“ At the end of the day, when people know how to actively hold government accountable then they can speak out , that for instance , this school in my community is not working , no tables and desk , structure is not good , toilets are not good , when citizens are aware of the right channels, it empower citizen to be able to hold government accountable .
“ we have representatives from the ministry of justice and other stakeholders, government , Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, CSO and the media, its important we are having the conversation, the media and the CSO plays a very crucial role in holding government accountable, they are the ones that help us tell stories , they put out some basic information for ordinary citizens who might not know how to actively engage the government .
“The benefit of the boot camp is that when the CSO and the media have been informed, educated, they know their right, what they are supposed to do , how they are supposed to hold government accountable , after this training ,they are able to request for the FOI, by utilizing the provission of the Public Procurement Act, they know the act inside out ,and they are able to use the act as a backing , and be able to go and meet the government that this is not what is happening and why are we not doing what should be done accordingly , when they know the details of provision of the act , the thing that government is supposed to do , they would be able to hold the government accountable .
Also speaking , a PPDC’s Senior Program Advisor, Ife Olatunji David explained that the project is funded by MacArthur Foundation with the aim of improving transparency and accountability in public procurement sector at sub national level .
“ we are implementing this program in Ekiti , Adamawa and Kaduna states , basically to gather all the relevant stakeholders, government, CSO,media, people with disability to ensure transparency, accountability and inclusion in ensuring public procurement processes are followed , inclusive and accountable , we are ensuring to educate citizens on their rights , educate them on public procurement processes and also to ensure collaboration among all the stakeholders .
“These laws are there, if you write letter to the government , they will respond, but the issue is that a lot of citizens don’t know their right , if you tell them (the citizens) , they will say, government will not answer, but the truth is that , if you write letter to the government , the law makes provision that they are meant to respond within 7 days.
” we want to educate the citizens on that right to write the letter and also to educate them on proper channels to follow , because even if you have the right and you don’t use it in a proper way , government will have openings to say they are not going to respond , we are educating them on all processes to follow to engage the government and we are sure Ekiti state government will respond when citizens do everything properly”.
One of the resource persons and an Assistant Chief Legal officer, Barrister oluwatayo Fabusuyi , from the Ekiti State Ministry of Justice at the event gave overview on public procurement act in the state and public procurement regulation , the fundamental principle of BPP in Ekiti , and the code of conduct in BPP, he stated that one of such regulations was that the procurement must be opening and competitive , added that the 2023 regulation has given incentives to women led businesses to encourage them, he however stressed that “when a citizen has done what is supposed to be done, the right authority would evaluate the document and come out with the decision ,
“the benefit is to ensure that project and contract are done to justification and to ensure that the law is complied with and the intention of the law is upheld for transparency and value for money”.
Photos at the ongoing event:
