By: Yahaya Zakka Minna.
Procurement in the Civil Service has been described as the act of obtaining or purchasing goods and services through tendering of competitive bidding processes where aspects of quality, quantity, time and location are compared.
In Iight of the above, the Head of Service Hajiya Salamatu T Abubakar mni, has called on the need to improve capacity of Civil Servants especially Procurement Officers in order to provide efficiency towards the reduction of wastages particularly due to dwindling economy in the State.
The Head of Service who was represented by the Permanent Secretary Establishment Matter overseeing Public Service Office Dr. Joseph Kolo James, stated this in her opening remark while declaring a 2 day training workshop on e — Procurement Process For Procurement Officers in Niger State.
Hajiya Salamatu, said it was important to bring together Procurement and Store Officers so as to explain areas of Convergence and divergence between the two Cadre in order to resolve the conflict among them for better Service delivery as was done with Directors of Planning and Procurement Officers.
She also emphasized on the need to create Procurement Offices at all Local Government level to ensure things are done the right way.
The Permanent Secretary Human Resource Development Department, Isah Bala Ibrahim in his address, thanked the Governor for his Unflinching support for Capacity building for Civil Servants, Urged Participants to take the training seriously as there will be an assessment of Participants which will be Conducted at the end of the workshop.
Earlier in his welcome address the Permanent Secretary Niger State Public Procurement Board , Alhaji Shehu Jibrin said the fundamental aims and objective is to equip the Civil Service with new skills and broad based knowledge that will enable them compete with their counterparts hence the reason for the deployment of workshops and seminars in order to leave the Civil Service better than it was met.
Also speaking the Permanent Secretary, Local Government Service Commission, Nuhu Garba Ngaski in a goodwill message appreciated the Head of Service for enhancing the Capacity training adding that the training could not have come at a better time when the world is turning into a global village.
He said the theme ” e — Procurement in Public Service Cycle: The Critical Role Of Procurement Officers in Digital Centralization and Analysis Of Supply Chain Management in Niger State”,Nuhu Ngaski Pleaded with the Head of Service to allow the Commission liaise with relevant Stakeholders, so as to have Procurement Officers across the 25 Local Government Areas.
Similarly, the DG, State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability/ Open Government Policy ( SFTAS/OGP), Mallam Siraj Sa’id ,in his goodwill message also informed the gathering that Niger State is among the 3 state in the Country.
He further stated that the State received an award of Excellence recently in Abuja. He thanked the Head of Service and all Civil Servants in the State for their commitment adding that he looks forward for more support to the Procurement Cadre and hopes it will be extended to Local Government Areas.
Three papers were presented on Day 1 .
Breaches in Procurement Process, Penalties and Way Forward by Shehu Jibrin Permanent Secretary, NSPPB, Procurement Methods and Procedures was presented by Engr. Sulaiman Muhammad Liman , NSPPB and Processes and Procedures on e — Procurement Implementation by Joseph Ndaba Gana.
