Public procurement is a function of the allocation of resources. As a natural outcome of the budgeting process, dealing especially with capital as well as non-salary recurrent expenditure, public procurement serves to manage the interface between governance and public financial management.
Public procurement systems are the bridge between public requirements (e.g. roads, hospitals, defense needs, etc) and private sector providers. Governments provide goods and services to meet a variety of citizen-needs. These items are obtained from either internal government organizations (hospitals, public works departments, etc) or from sources external to the government in the private sector (domestic or international supplies). In this sense, governments traditionally use their budget process to decide if they will “make” something in-house or “buy” it from others through their procurement system, just at a private company makes similar decisions in their enterprise resources plan. However, unlike private sector procurement-public procurement is a business process within a political system-with distinct consideration of integrity, accountability, national interest and effectiveness.
The business operations of government, as controlled by public procurement systems, affect many different elements of society. First are the procuring entities, which have needs for material support (e.g. roads, hospitals, desks and educational supplies, etc) to fulfil their designated missions. Then there is the business community of actual or potential suppliers to satisfy the government’s identified requirements. But, for the government agency’s needs to be properly considered by a supplier, they must be expressed in clear terms, compatible with public policies involving such areas such as competition, social and economicgoals, and transparency of the basic rules and procedures. Procurement actions should encourage supplies to value government business and provide satisfactory quality, service and price in good time. There are also professional associations, academic entities, and public interest groups, which have important views in how public management institutions are to perform. The general public is more likely to feel satisfaction when they know that expenditures made through the public procurement system are economical, rational and fair.
Public procurement systems can be on opposite poles-they can either add value to the economy or siphon it away into corrupt, wasteful or unethical purposes. Few countries-developed or underdeveloped-are at either one of these poles, yet, like people many are at some point between perfection and perdition. Because of the domestic and international imperatives that are coalescing around the function of public procurement, all governments should have a clear understanding of where their system lies on this line.
The most effective way to understand the uses of a public procurement system vis-à-vis national goals and interest is to conduct a structured analysis of it. People are needed to translate management goals and policies into reality. Throughout the world, future demands on the procurement workforce are expected to be even more critical than they are today. As the economy of a developing country grows, its procurement requirements can be expected to become more complex. If procurement is to adequately support this growth, the procurement workforce must be able to make more informed judgment about the best items available in national and global markets to satisfy requirements within the government’s process.
Rules of Conduct and Accountability
While presently in Kebbi State the rules seem to be in place, the effect of their implementation can be questioned. While the areas of paucity may not be well documented and reported, in Kebbi State we do not have rules on conflict of interest at all. If there are such rules they are observed in the breach than in positive compliance. We do have in Kebbi State anticorruption provisions in place in various types of legislation (e.g. criminal codes, anticorruption compliance with these rules even by the public servants. Enforcement organs such as the Code of Conduct Bureau, Anti-Corruption Commission, State Auditors and Comptroller have limited capacity in ensuring compliance. One could point to insufficient resources for policing. We also lack anti-bribery laws (including specific rules concerning bribery of Government officials), or of enforcement of the laws, which exist.
Preferential treatment of local bidders
In Kebbi State we appear to be applying some sort of preference in favour of our own citizens or national goods. However, the fact that we have a preponderance of choice for selective or direct bidding as the default procurement preference ultimately and in the long run has deleterious economic consequences. Differences appear to exist in the amount of the preference, whether it was applied as a mandatory procurement or at the option of the procuring entity or other authority in planning individual procurement proceedings, and whether the law or regulations specified particular categories of bidders. Our preference appears to be for the informal participants in the economy and almost completely ignores those eligible for preferential treatment, in particular small and medium sized enterprises.
Institutional and administrative arrangement
In almost all cases, the central procurement authority, the Kebbi State Tenders Board, is involved operationally in the conduct of procurement proceedings. Such operational activity ranges from sitting on evaluation committees, serving as the adjudicator body, or procuring countrywide or common use items. This creates an overlap between the operational and regulatory functions to be detriment of regulatory independence. In effect, the regulator and regulated become one, with the regulatory function subject to pressure and potential conflicts of interest. This provides the basis for a call to the Bureau for Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence, which I chair, to be more alive to its regulatory responsibilities and functions.
Upgrading of human resources and capacity
In Kebbi State the procurement function lies mainly with the Directors of Finance and Supplies but there are no particular professional requirements. However, no minimum civil service rank has been indicated for performance of procurement functions. There is however a familiarity with procurement rules and procedures, or “on the job training”, as the standard.
No mention is made of any university degree requirement or study background in the fields of purchasing or supply and materials management.
Procurement procedures
Goods, services or works are to be obtained through public advertising locally. This has not been strictly adhered to. However, there are standard contract documents for use in procuring goods, works or other types of contracts and these are due for review in order to reflect, for example, current developments in the area of electronic commerce. The system is also segmented, with functions and decisions decentralized, and with differing rules applying to various entities. However, there is provision in the procurement Law for the Bureau on Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence to be the single unit with the responsibility to issue, update, educate and monitor compliance with public procurement guidelines. While, the Ministry of Finance has the primary responsibility for executing and implementing procurement decisions under the Procurement Law.
Imperatives of due process to public procurement in Kebbi State
There will be many challenges for those who want to modernize, in a climate of economic austerity, the public procurement system. The challenges, which will face any government in nearly every part of the world, are likely to include:How to get the best out of public sector professionals; how to deliver choice as well as voice for users and beneficiaries of the public services assuming that choice is a high priority for the public; how to limit the role of government to the functions, which only it can or should perform; how to get regulation and accountability into suitable balance with performance and efficiency; how to do more with less in a tight fiscal context; how to harness the talent and diversity of the modern civil service; how to respond to public expectations when there are likely to be capacity limits in the public sector; how to provide ‘personalized public services’ whena collectivist approach may be all that is affordable; in which areas of policy and delivery is there scope and justification for further modernization
Conclusion
It is an established practice the world over that for the legislative, executive and judicial arm of government they require an army of civil servants to translation legislation, executive orders and judicial pronouncements into day to day living reality. In Kebbi State no less is expected of the civil service to bring to bear the highest standards of integrity in the performance of the public duties and delivery of public services particularly when such actions related to procurement of goods, materials and services from private sector entities.
Usman, an adviser on due process, presented this paper in a workshop on raising integrity standards in public service organised by National Orientation Agency Kebbi state.
