The Edo State government has announced that its procurement reforms have attracted the attention of no less than 19 states within the federation and at least two foreign nations.
Henry Idogun, the Managing Director of the Edo State Public Procurement Agency (EPPA), revealed this in Benin. He stated that the state boasts arguably the highest number of procurement professionals in the country, trained in partnership with international development organizations.
He said: “We had a vision when we embarked on this journey. We recognized the need to build capacity from the outset. Edo State was the pioneer in having 14 certified procurement professionals.
“As the saying goes, you can’t give what you don’t have. We knew we needed to build capacity with the backing of the World Bank under the SEEFOR programme.
“We managed to expose many of our officers and build their capacity, and that is what continues to sustain us today.
“Edo was the trailblazer in this regard. Even at the federal level then, and even now, I’m not certain they have that caliber of certified procurement professionals.
“When we initiated our e-procurement, it was straightforward to develop a strategy to implement our e-procurement, which worked remarkably well.
“So much so that other states have been coming to learn from it. We have had 19 states come to study our e-procurement implementation strategy.
“Two countries, including Liberia and Gambia, have also come to learn from the scheme. So, what people thought was unachievable, something we thought we were doing in the corner of our office here, received extensive recognition from Nigeria’s Governor Forum, the World Bank, and other developed partners.
“They began to endorse the Edo model to anyone who was willing to listen. These are some of the initiatives that we have undertaken that have been acknowledged as adding value to the entire governance architecture.”
