Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said, yesterday, that there was
need for greater transparency in the award of Federal Government contracts,
even as he advocated the establishment of a website where government contracts
are published....
Osinbajo, who spoke at a dialogue session he had with a
coalition of over 70 Civil Society Organizations, CSOs, in Nigeria under the aegis of The Situation Room, said the current practice that mandates the Bureau
of Public Procurement, BPP, to ensure that contract bids are published in two
national dailies, was not enough. Stressing that the prevailing practice does
not only affect “small players,” who he said find it difficult to pay the high
cost of advertorials, the vice president insisted that having a dedicated and
functional website “will be a perfect answer,” Osinbajo According to Osinbajo,
“Generally speaking, what happens with contract is that it goes through a process
and must be approved by the President or the Federal Executive Council. That is
generally how it is done. “But I do agree that there is the need for greater
transparency with respect to government contracts, such that you have a website
where every contract is published. “Now that is a good thing, but at the moment
what we have or the requirement of the law is that every contract that go
through the BPP must be advertised in twin national dailies. “But the constraint
of that also is cost. Many agree that it will increase the cost for especially
the small players and also increase the cost of contracts because you have to
advertise in two dailies. “I do agree that the website will be a perfect
answer. Some may recall that I signed an Executive Order while I was the Acting
President, on ensuring that all websites of our Ministries and Parastatals are
up”. Meantime, earlier in his opening remarks, Coordinator of the Situation Room
and Executive Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy Center, PLAC, Mr. Clement Nwankwo,
said issues of equity, equality and fairness, were at the core of recent
agitations in the country. He said: “Across the country, discontent levels are
very high, with cries of marginalization raging high. This has resulted in
calls for ‘restructuring’ and ‘referendum’ on the nature of government that
Nigerian should have. The Situation Room is not in support of any action that
will threaten the unity of Nigeria and condemns actions on the part of citizens
and groups that undermines our nation’s unity. “We, however, note that the
issues of equity, equality and fairness are at the core of these recent
agitations.” “This administration will need to address complaints from
aggrieved sections of the country who feel or perceive that they are not being equitably
treated by it. “In addition, the conversations around Restructuring and
practice of Federalism which have continued to recur in this country since 1990
will need to happen and be settled for all time, so that Nigeria can move
rapidly forward in pursuit of national development. “However, persons who act
contrary to the laws to undermine national peace and unity must be equally held
to account and brought to justice irrespective of whatever part of the country
they come from. “Hate speech and threats against citizens of our different ethnicity and religions, from whatever part of the country they are spewed
out from, must be equally confronted and punished as a deterrent and
consequence of unacceptable conduct. “On the economic front, it is important to
state that the living conditions of our people have significantly nose-dived
especially since this administration took over power from its predecessor on
May 29, 2015. “Agreed, the previous administration set the stage for our
economic downturn, with the massive levels of corruption of our people. The
pain of economic slide and the deteriorating conditions of living of our people
are too high and unacceptable and this government must do much more than it is
currently doing. “The Situation Room supports the efforts of this
administration in tackling the scourge of corruption, but believes that much
more long-lasting and sustainable steps need to be taken in this regard,
particularly by strengthening the institutions that fight corruption and
ensuring that their efforts are not ad-hoc and is carried out in line with due
process and the rule of law”. Besides, Nwankwo said the Situation Room was
concerned about the rising levels of insecurity across the country. He said:
“Increased incidences of kidnapping, the menace of ‘cattle’ herdsmen and
general crime across the country is very worrying and requires national
emergency action. The levels of insecurity, significantly accounts for the
declining levels of economic investment in the country, even by our own citizens.
“The government and and security agencies must act now and take action against
marauding murderous ‘cattle herdsmen’ who have taken over vast lands across all
parts of the country and used these lands as stage posts to attack local
farmers, killing and perpetrating all sorts of crimes, including the rape of
our women and girls and kidnappings”.
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