Why Obasanjo Seeks Openness In Govt, By Aide
BY BISI ALABI WILLIAMS
THE quest by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration for openness is borne out of the need to show that government can be devoid of favouritism and other forms of corrupt practices, said his Senior Special Assistant on Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili.
Speaking at the business luncheon of the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN), she noted that in past years, many people were wary of doing business in Nigeria because the cost was higher than elsewhere.
"There seems to be more need, now than ever, to ensure that rules and procedures put in place for any form of procurement show adequate clarity of purpose to make them implementable and enforceable. One of the instruments that have been established to attract honest foreign investors and put an end to the business as usual syndrome is the due process certification.
"For quite some time now, a number of well meaning Nigerians have clamoured for the implementable strategies for the procurement of goods and services by the three tiers of government in Nigeria. This group of Nigerians have noticed that projects in Nigeria are procured at higher costs than those for similar projects within the region and internationally," she said.
Ezekwesili, who presented a paper, entitled "Engineers and Project Controls in Nigerian Economy," said although past governments had policies and guidelines for procurement, their implementation had always been problematic. The major defects of the previous procurement systems, she stated, included budget proposals from ministries/parastatals, which were unrelated to justifiable needs; the absence of economic cost/benefit analysis of projects to justify the project; and the lack of competition and transparency in project procurement, leading to high cost of projects.
She pointed out that projects were not prioritised and harmonised. Consequently, several ministries were pursuing supposed needs simultaneously without co-ordination, leading to unjustifiable gap between budget and actual releases. This, she disclosed, in turn led to under-funding, delayed completion, price escalation and project abandonment, while preference was given to new projects to the detriment of maintenance, refurbishment and completion of existing ones.
According to her, accountability is the obligation of a person charged with an action or responsibility to give transparent account of his or her action to the maximum advantage of his/her organisation as prescribed by laws, regulations and tradition at all times.
She said: "Such actions may be related to fund disbursement, purchases, procurements, planning, controlling, budgeting, project implementation, price verification, auditing, remedial activities, etc.
"Transparency is the obligation to take action or discharge responsibilities with openness, truthfulness, fairness, honesty and clarity. The on-going reforms aims at replacing the existing business as usual syndromes with specific strategies for the empowerment of Nigerians, eradication of poverty in the society, entrenchment of transparency and encouragement of competition in all transactions both in public and private sectors of the economy. Above all, the aim is to move forward to the economic growth and development of Nigeria."
Ezekwesili said Nigeria is pursuing the economic reforms against the backdrop of the endemic corruption permeating the nation. Her words: "Corruption is using official position to improperly enrich oneself or those close to oneself through misuse of power entrusted to an individual or group of individuals and consequently undermining the objectives of higher authority, thereby defeating value for money, transparency and accountability."
