Building Coalitions; Lessons from Nigeria

Held in Kampala, Uganda

The Nigerian Procurement Framework

The Public Procurement Act was signed into law on the 4th of June, 2007

The Procurement process is regulated by the Bureau for Public Procurement under the auspice of a Director General and a national Council on Public Procurement

There is statutory provision for citizens to observe and report on every aspect of the Procurement process in every Federal MDA; specifically, one CSO working in the area of governance and one professional body in the area relevant to the good, work or service been procured.

Our Focus

Deepening Multi-Stakeholder Engagement in the Public Procurement Process

Every citizen of Nigeria has a role, duty and obligation under this act

A system like this one should help the federal government to work better with contractors, complete more projects, allow only reasonable profits, achieve value for money, create jobs, improve infrastructure

and the lives of our citizens. If procurement reforms fail…The

blame of failure will go round

Rationale for Focus

Nigeria is country with 810 MDAs at the Federal level

There is need to continuously generate a critical mass of citizens across the country that will observe and report on the procurement process

There is need to deepen the reports that are being produced

There is need to create partnerhips and working relationships between all the stakeholders

Stakeholders

Organized citizens sector Professional bodies The regulators (Bureau for Public

Procurement) Federal Procuring entities (Ministries,

departments and Agencies The media

Our Experience

The best way to start building a coalition is to engage others from a perspective of knowledge.

Acknowledge that procurement monitoring is not a job that can be done by one, two or three organizations

Show personal commitment to initiative Emphasize the contribution of every stakeholder

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity....................Oprah Winfrey

Concentrate not upon things which divide us but upon those which bind us

together (State of the Union address by Harry, S. Truman January, 7, 1948)

Structures..........

A virtual mailing list A secretariat An online monitoring portal

The Journey So Far Growing multi-stakeholder engagement

between civil society, professional bodies, the media the Bureau of Public Procurement

Information sharing between CSOs Still limited but growing access to

procurement information Standard tools for procurement monitoring.

E.g. a standard checklist, a procurement monitoring portal, user guide to the standard checklist, simplified versions of the law, printed procurement plans.

Needs

The capacity of many more CSOs needs to be built across the country

Much more monitors need to be trained according to specific sectors within which they have expertise

The procurement law needs to be domesticated at the state levels

There is need for Guidelines to ensure that information is not only available but is accessible through a variety of channels

Build the capacity of procurement officers in public offices to develop detailed procurement plans

Procurement Needs

Strategy within this specific project

We will build the capacity of a network of CSOs to monitor the procurement process within a specific sector.

CSOs will monitor compliance while professional bodies within the sector will monitor technical specifications using a standardized template

Strategy…..

The reports will be used by the regulator to seek corrective action where needed

The regulator will ensure access to information for the procurement monitors.

The media will publicize the analyses of procurement process in a way that is digestible to citizens. The media reports will emphasize the social impact of the process.

The media report will form part of the advocacy for procurement laws to be domesticated and implemented at the state level.

The Way forward......

Link the activities of budget analysts, procurement monitors and project implementation monitors

Continue sector specific training for procurement monitors

Maintain a stakeholder partnership with the Bureau of Public Procurement

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has”

- Magaret Mead