Group Trains 15 NGOs on Procurement Processes in Bauchi

Group Trains 15 NGOs on Procurement Processes in Bauchi

By Admin

Efficiency Management Consulting Firm has commenced a two-day capacity building workshop for 15 Non-Governmental Organisations on the International Standard practice on procurement processes in Bauchi state.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the training on Thursday, Mr Ogunnupe Olushiga, the Convener and Lead Facilitator of the training, said the workshop was to help organisations mirror their activities in line with the Nigeria Procurement Act.

He said the training would help in fine-tuning the organisations’ policies and procurement activities to fit national and international standards.

According to him, the workshop would also help procurement, administration, finance, compliance and programme officers to align their procurement practice with national laws and global donor policies, as well as build a fraud resistant -audit ready and value driven procurement system.

“The training is to increase the capacity of the not-for-profit sector partners or workers and all those organisations that work under the not-for-profit to bring them up to international standards in procurement practice.

“It is also to help them to mirror their activities with the Nigerian Procurement Act which is not mandatory for them, but compels them to have their policies and procurement activities to be in tune with how it's supposed to be by national policy and also by international standard.

“This standard fits into the World Bank and other donor agencies that come into partnership with them,” he said.

The Procurement Advisor also said that the new global, national, state laws and frameworks on procurement aligned with the need to safeguard the environment in rendering services by being eco-friendly, energy efficient in all procurement processes and services.

Also, Barr. Patricia James, a Legal Procurement Consultant, listed some of the existing laws that would guide organisations in procurement matters to include the Public Procurement Act 2007, Bauchi State Public Procurement Law 2020.

Others she said included the World Bank Procurement Regulations 2023, Transparency International (2021), Corruption Risks in Public Procurement, Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply CIPS 2020, Ethical Procurement among many others.

In his address, Malam Nura Mohammed, the Director General State Agency for Sustainable Microfinance in the state, said the government would henceforth, channel all its Micro-credit Revolving Fund facilities through Participating Financial Banks down to the grassroots to ensure financial inclusion in underserved communities.

He said the agency was established by Governor Bala Mohammed to act as an intermediary between the government, financial institutions, and businesses, towards providing access to credit, business development services, and policy support.

Mohammed, who said procurement is critical to the operations of every organisation, commended the facilitator for his commitment and that the participants would practicalise the knowledge to ensure credibility and integrity in their system.