Host and visitors to Plateau State Bureau of Public Procurement.
By Marie-Therese Nanlong
Jos – The Acting Director General of the Plateau State Bureau of Public Procurement, Yabilsu Dogo, has called on the media to pay more attention and report more procurement-related issues so that public officials in the procurement subsector would be more alive to their responsibilities.
Dogo noted that the media’s role is key in any meaningful development hence beaming a continued searchlight to such an issue would ensure accountability and efficiency.
He spoke at his office in Jos when the Coalition for Public Accountability in Plateau State, COPAP, a group of journalists and members of the Civil Society Organizations, CSOs advocating accountability in the budgeting and procurement processes paid him a courtesy visit.
The Acting DG who commended the State Governor and his staff members for their efforts in repositioning the Bureau also listed some challenges they faced and called an enabling environment to deliver on its mandate.
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He said “Governor Caleb Mutfwang needs our support because he is doing well and he must be encouraged to do more although he is determined to work having seen the interest that the Plateau people have in him.
“Staff of the BPP are ready to work but need the enabling environment, training, and a conducive working environment to enable them to deliver. We also ask for proper funding, computers, and vehicles for project monitoring.”
He assured that the State Open Contracting Data Standard, OCDS portal would soon be updated with new projects uploaded as the Plateau State Information and Communication Technology Development Agency PICTDA and other stakeholders had visited the Bureau for discussions.
He urged Government Agencies to adhere to the procurement standards and ensure the Bureau is carried along in their activities.
Earlier, Derickson Gono who led the COPAP team stated the group was at the Bureau not only to visit the Acting DG but to find out the state of the State OCDS portal and know when new projects would be uploaded for easy monitoring.
