Gov. Rauf Aregbesola
*Says state’s airport, schools, other projects guided by best procurement practices
In a bid to sustain transparency and accountability in government transactions, the Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on Wednesday signed into law the Osun Public Procurement Law 2015.
The Public Procurement Law provides for public dissemination of information on government procurement which will guarantee citizens, particularly small and medium scale enterprises opportunities to participate in public procurement processes among others.
The Governor, while signing the bill into law at the Executive Chamber Lounge of the Governor’s Office in Osogbo said that procurement is one way in which the government interfaces with the people and re-inflates its domestic economy.
Aregbesola, considering the volume of government procurement, stated that it is important that the resources of government be managed judiciously and the procurement process seen to be transparent and equitable.
He held that government as stewards of public funds, must be accountable and be seen to have got the best deal for the people with public funds.
The Governor said, “Just today (Wednesday), a report in one of the newspapers compared the airport we are building in Osun to similar ones built by other states and concluded that ours is the cheapest, even when we have the longest runway.
”A recent similar comparison on the mega-schools we are constructing was done with that of a neighbouring state and also gave us a favourable rating, not just in cost but in quality. It is stuff like this that separates us from the rest.
”It is the need to have these values codified into law and make it bounding principles of governance for whoever is in government that motivated us to make this law.”
He pointed out that the State of Osun Public Procurement Law 2015 in all consists of 81 sections which will ensure probity, accountability, transparency, value for money as well as establish fair pricing standards and benchmarks.
Aregbesola stressed that government has put in place adequate guideline to safeguard the law from being abused by people.
He said, “No matter how well intentioned any policy of government is, it is bound to be abused by unscrupulous elements saddled with its operation.
“Hence, the Section 23 (1)-(27) was coined in line with best global practices in procurement and even modeled to suit our own peculiarities in the State of Osun so as to forestall any act of sabotage right from the outset of any procurement process”.
The governor added that Section 25 of the new law makes it mandatory that all procuring entities must have a procuring Office with the function of initiating the entity’s procurement process.
He also noted that the procuring office must carry out appropriate market and statistical surveys, prepare analysis of cost implication of a proposed procurement among other functions.
Speaking earlier on the law, the former Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties in Osun, Dr. Ajibola Bashiru stated that the Public Procurement Law, 2015 is a well-researched Law in line with the demand for transparency, accountability and effectiveness that the procurement process demands.
He held that the passage of the Law will guarantee Osun citizens’ opportunities to participate in the economic opportunities and benefits embedded in public procurement, among others.
Ajibola also added that the law will also ensure probity, accountability, transparency, value for money as well as establish fair pricing standards and benchmarks.
He said, “The new State of Osun Procurement Law, 2015 is the provision for E-procurement as contained in Section 61 which provides that the Board shall design and set up a secure electronic portal, not later than twelve months from the enactment of this Law or at such time that the Governor may consider appropriate”. Dr. Ajibola noted.
He stated that for the state to start on a good footing at producing ‘Cocoa Omoluabi’, the state has enumerated and identified sixty million active cocoa trees in the state.
Aregbesola, while meeting with Cocoa Produce Merchants in the state at the Government House Banquet Hall in Osogbo, stated that with new cocoa development initiatives in the state, there will be a new cash inflow making the economy of the state prosperous.
According to him, the state has also gone further in her bid to boost cocoa production and Agriculture with the signing of Memorandum of under standing with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on the development of agriculture and production of massive food production as alternative to reliance on oil sector.
The agreement according to Aregbesola involved releasing of 204.39 hectares of land in Ago Owu Farm Settlement to IITA for the purposes of conducting research and setting up demonstration farms for best farming practices.
IITA will also carry out cassava, plantain and other crops multiplication including Cocoa as well as train the youths in the state in modern, commercial and profitable farming.
Aregbesola emphasised that the state in her bid to increase Internally Generated Revenue in Osun, government will establish commodity board that will be supervised directly by the office of the governor to ensure that Osun ranks among the best cocoa producers in Nigeria within the next two years.
He told the produce merchants that the economic situation of the state has been badly affected with the pillaging of the national treasury by the previous administration.
Aregbesola added that the situation with the drop in oil prices and the sharp reduction in the Federation Accounts from N1.2 trillion in 2012 to N369 billion in November allocations shared in December 2015 has reduced the running of government to little or nothing hence the need to look inward in increasing IGR.
The governor noted that the state will soon bounce back with the identification of sixty million Cocoa trees presently in the state, adding that government henceforth will criminalise any action of farmers and merchants that runs afoul of government laws on cocoa.
He pointed out that government will soon be registering all farmers in the state for easy implementation of government policies on agriculture thus giving adequate room for monitoring and giving the necessary support for farmers.
According to him, “to show the people of the state that we are ready to face agriculture squarely in Osun, I am establishing a commodity board that will be supervised directly from the office of the governor.
“Our bags of cocoa in Osun will be branded with this; government will be able to ensure that the quality of cocoa coming out of the state meets international quality. When there was free money coming from oil, no government was looking at what cocoa could bring to the economy; we are back to the days where cocoa will be the main stay of our economy in Osun”. The governor emphasised.
Aregbesola hinted that Produce tribunals will be set up across the state and that special colour will be given to vehicles that will be transporting cocoa within the state.
The governor added that the State Executive Council meetings will be held in rural areas where cocoa farming is thriving in the state for about six months to one year after the formation of his cabinet.
Earlier, the Chairman of All farmers Association of Osun, Chief Raheem Adeniji stated that the association is ready to partner and cooperate with government in her bid to revamp the cocoa farming in the state.
He lamented the poor economic state the country has found it with the neglect of cocoa which he said was the back bone of the economy in the 60s, identifying the cancellation of Cocoa and marketing Board by the then military government as a setback for the industry in Nigeria.
Adeniji commended government for introducing E-payment, adding that government should ensure and maintain that Osun cocoa should not go out of the state.
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