The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has stressed the need for staff as public servants to ensure due process is adhered to in its procurement processes. It reminded Procurement Officers that the penalties for non-compliance in the Public Procurement Act were not only grave but scary and usually went without an option of fine.

The Commission’s Director of Human Resources, Musa Adamu, gave the charge at the opening of a 2-day Workshop organized for Procurement Desk Officers with the theme: “Effective Procurement Planning,” held at Aso Motel, Kaduna.

He said the present government and indeed the Commission took issues of NEEDS assessment very seriously and there must be justification for every procurement in line with the Public Procurement Act PPA S.18(A). Said he: “it is instructive to note that as Procurement Desk Officers, each and every one of us here has an integral role, duty and obligation as public servants to ensure that due process is followed in our procurement process”.

Mr. Adamu explained that such training became necessary because the Public Procurement Act, enacted in 2007, which had brought a transparent system of public procurement for Nigeria, had in recent times been abused by Public Servants, Contractors and the likes.

He urged participants to take advantage of the skills and knowledge gained at the workshop and impact them on their work to improve the Commission’s procurement processes.

The Director of Procurement, Isa Lawal Wase, represented by Mr. Shikfu Bewarang, reiterated that breaching any law of the Public Procurement Act, could lead to outright sentencing.

He added that the workshop would help every individual to ensure that everything done as Procurement Desk Officers were done properly.

The participants of the workshop, numbering over 81, were drawn from the different departments and directorates of the Commission.

Papers presented at the workshop include: Overview of Public Procurement Act 2007/Procurement Planning; Fraud Prevention in Contract Tendering; Public Procurement Act and its Inherent Legal Implication; Due Process Management and Value for Money Audit/Due Process Certification; Supplier Evaluation and Pre-Qualification Criteria; Tendering Process in Public Procurement and Fundamental Principles of Public Procurement.