Kwara moves to make annual procurement plans compulsory for MDAs

The Kwara State Government is moving to institutionalise annual procurement plans across all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to align procurement activities with the state’s budget process.

The Kwara State Public Procurement Agency (KW-PPA) made the proposal during a working visit to the Office of the Head of Service, with the Acting Head of Service, Dr Olufunke Mercy Shittu, assuring the agency of the office’s support.

The General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of KW-PPA, QS Raheem Abdulbaki, said the agency was seeking the Head of Service’s support to ensure that annual procurement plans become an institutional requirement for all MDAs and are prepared early enough to feed into the annual budget process.

He said effective procurement planning would align procurement needs with budgetary provisions, facilitate early procurement activities, improve budget implementation and expenditure management, and strengthen transparency, accountability and value for money.

Abdulbaki said the initiative would also promote better market assessment, aggregation of similar requirements, appropriate procurement packaging and realistic cost estimates, moving the state from reactive to more coordinated procurement practices.

He proposed collaboration among the Office of the Head of Service, the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, the Ministry of Finance and KW-PPA to establish the institutional framework for the initiative.

The agency said it was ready to provide guidelines, templates, technical support and capacity development to help MDAs prepare and implement their procurement plans.

Receiving the KW-PPA management team, Shittu described the initiative as a development that could reduce delays and the back-and-forth associated with budget and procurement processes.

She said institutionalising annual procurement planning would make procurement activities across MDAs more proactive and systematic rather than reactive.

The Acting Head of Service also commended KW-PPA for its professional support and advice to the Office of the Head of Service on procurement procedures, saying the collaboration had helped ensure compliance with established requirements.

She assured the agency of continued support for the successful implementation of the annual procurement planning initiative.

The Director of Administration and Finance in the Office of the Head of Service, Florence Balogun, described the initiative as timely and beneficial to effective public administration, assuring KW-PPA of continued collaboration.

KW-PPA reaffirmed its readiness to work with the Office of the Head of Service and other relevant stakeholders to institutionalise annual procurement plans across the state’s MDAs.