Edo State has become a model for procurement reforms in Nigeria, as it has received visits from 19 states and 2 countries who want to learn from its best practices.
The Managing Director of Edo State Public Procurement Agency (EPPA), Henry Idogun, disclosed this in a chat with journalists on Friday.
Idogun said the state has implemented landmark reforms to ensure transparency and probity in its procurement processes, which have improved its service delivery and accountability.
He also said the state has the highest number of procurement professionals in the country, who were trained with the support of international development organisations such as the World Bank.
He said: "We were visionary when we started. We knew that we needed to build capacity at the beginning. The Edo State Government was the first state to have 14 certified procurement professionals.
As they say, you can’t give what you don’t have. We knew we needed to build capacity with the support of the World Bank under the SEEFOR programme.
We were able to expose many of our officers to built their capacity and that is what is still carrying us today. Edo was the first state to do so. Even at the federal level at that time, and even up till now, I’m not sure they have that level of certified procurement professionals."
Idogun added that the state has also adopted innovative technologies such as e-procurement and e-invoicing to enhance its procurement efficiency and effectiveness.
He said the state has been able to save costs, reduce corruption, increase competition, and promote local content through its procurement reforms.
He said: "Our procurement reforms have attracted a lot of attention from other states and countries who want to emulate us. We have received visits from 19 states and 2 countries who came to understudy our transformational changes.
We are happy to share our experiences and lessons learned with them. We believe that by improving our procurement system, we are contributing to the development of our state and our country."