Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello
In its bid to encourage foreign direct investment to Kogi State, the State Government is stepping up the public procurement process to attract foreign investors to take advantage of numerous mineral and natural resources.
Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Arike Folashade Ayoade, at a sensitisation workshop for political office-holders on public procurement process in Lokoja, said the government was actively pursuing reforms in the State through the procurement processes which will help it achieve its developmental goals.
Ayoade said: “We want to attract foreign direct investment. That is why we want to do it right and better. When we do it right, foreign investors would want to come but we don’t want to be embarrassed. When we are not doing it right following the due process the foreign investors would not want to come.”
She said it was the reason the government decided to craft a coherent strategy for the purpose of financing government programmes in general.“Investors would be key to investing in partnerships when they are convinced that the government has the political will to support the procurement process.
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“We want to get ourselves acquainted with public procurements in Kogi State because this is a government that wants to do it right.”Ayoade added that the public procurement law was passed in 2014 by the last administration but there was no implementation. Because the current governor wants to get it right, he inaugurated the council and handed over the public procurement law to the council.“We need to follow due process. When we came on board, a judicial panel of enquiry was set up to look into the activities of the past by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration.
“We are here today at the present looking into the past and we are mindful of the fact that the future would also look into our deeds. They would look into our activities and because we don’t want to be embarrassed or molested and we don’t want as a government to be dragged in the mud that is why we are to learn about public procurement,” she said.
Director General, Bureau for Public Procurement, Dr. Stella Ojone Adejoh, said the workshop was organised to sensitise the participants some rudiments on public procurement in the State and to learn more about the Bureau for Public Procurement.
Adejoh said: “There was a time past activities were looked into and when this administration is no longer in office somebody else may decide to look into our own activities.
“This government is in place by divine providence to ensure that things are done the right way and as stakeholders we have to play our part to ensure that the right objective is achieved.”
Source: G Business
