• Govs’ forum inaugurates state procurement DGs, targets leakages

Federal Government has approved the establishment of an inter-agency committee to harmonise the macroeconomic assumptions that underpin government budgeting and economic planning.

The committee is expected to harmonise projections on crude oil prices and production volumes, exchange rates, inflation and non-oil revenue used by fiscal and monetary authorities.

The decision followed a meeting of the economic management team (EMT) held in Abuja on Monday, chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele.

According to a statement by the finance ministry, the move also followed a joint budget retreat and technical validation workshop, which partly traced budget under-performance to inconsistent assumptions used by different agencies.

The ministry also linked budget under-performance to occasional divergence between key projections by various authorities responsible for economic policies.

“The committee will also work to resolve inconsistencies in how key indicators are reported within government, to external parties and the public,” the statement reads.

Speaking during the meeting, Oyedele said the decisions would improve the credibility of the government’s economic planning.

MEANWHILE, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has inaugurated the Forum of State Directors-General of Public Procurement, charging procurement authorities across the country to strengthen transparency, accountability and efficiency in public spending.

The forum, comprising Directors-General of procurement agencies or their equivalents from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was inaugurated yesterday at the NGF Secretariat in Abuja.

The initiative is expected to provide a platform for collaboration, knowledge-sharing and the harmonisation of procurement practices at the sub-national level.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Director-General of the NGF, Abdulallateef Shittu, said the inauguration came at a critical time when Nigeria was seeking to recalibrate its economic architecture.

He said state procurement authorities had an enormous responsibility, given the central role public procurement plays in budget implementation and the delivery of government projects.

The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Adebowale Adedokun, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was aware of the inauguration of the Committee of Practice of Public Procurement and had given his support to the initiative.

He said the initiative was consistent with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda and its commitment to improving living standards and reducing poverty.

In his remarks, Dr Osahanze Idahosa, who represented the President/CEO of the Africa Development Studies Centre (ADSC) and Douglas Development Institute (DDI), commended Adedokun for creating an enabling environment for collaboration and capacity development in the procurement sector.

The newly elected Chairman of the forum, Ehimoni Ibiyomi, in his acceptance speech, described his election as the beginning of a new institutional chapter in procurement administration and professional practice at the sub-national level.

He pledged to work with members to strengthen the quality and effectiveness of procurement administration at the sub-national level.