By: Felix Ikpotor
As part of deliberate effort to ensure transparency and accountability at the local government levels, the Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement in conjunction with the Rivers State Local Government Service Commission has held a one-day sensitisation for newly elected local government chairmen, their vice and councillors in the state.
The sensitisation also had Clerks of the Legislative Assembly, Secretaries of Council and Heads of Local Government Administration.
In a keynote address delivered at the event, Acting Director General of the Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement, RSBoPP, Engr Ine Briggs said the trainning has become necessary because over the years public procurement has been fraught with inefficiencies, lack of transparency and misuse of public funds.
She said the challenge led to the institution of public procurement laws to ensure that public funds are utilised in such a manner that brings value to the people and ensure fitness for purpose while reducing corruption.
She charged the local government executives to ensure that all their expenditures reflects a commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability.
“As executive leaders and principal officers at the local government levels, you near enormous responsibility. Local government being the closest tier if government to the grassroots, hold the power to directly affect the lives of citizens.
“Your role in the prudent management of public resources is therefore, not just administrative but the cornerstone of delivering the dividends of democracy”.
“Every procurement decision you make must reflect a commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability. The funds you manage are not just numbers on a budget, they represent the aspirations and welfare of the people you serve,” she added.
She said it is important for the local council leaders to comply with procurement laws because it helps to build a system that instills confidence in the public and promotes sustainable development urging them not to see the law as a hindrance but as a tool to achieving greater development objectives.
She also emphasized that even though the law prescribes sanctions for defaulters, that the agency wants voluntary compliance from the council officers.
On his part, the Acting Chairman, Rivers State Local Government Service Commission, RSLGSC, Pastor Goodlife Ben Iduoku, while speaking at the trainning expressed the hope that the trainning would help strengthen local government administration in the state by generating new ideas to tackle the challenges facing implementation of the procurement laws in the councils.
He said: “I am sure that this workshop will provide the platform for all stakeholders in the local government system to generate new ideas, innovations, strategies and policies that are in tandem with the state procurement law to address the challenges that may confront policy implementation at the local government levels and serve as a catalysts to both civil servants and politicians as bureaucrats who drive the agenda of government, engine room and implementor of policies and programmes.”
He said the RSLGSC shall work with all stakeholders to better the local government system in the state.
Iduoku used the opportunity to appreciate Governor Siminalayi Fubara for ensuring the conduct of the October 5, 2024 Local Government Area Elections in compliance with the Supreme Court judgement, giving them the opportunity to work for the betterment of people at the grassroots.
Our correspondent reports that highpoints of the trainning were presentation of awards to deserving persons.
