The Lagos State Public Procurement Agency has organised a training programme on Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) to boost the capacity of its officers in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies that are already integrated into the e-procurement platform of the State.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the training programme, the Director-General of the Agency, Mr. Fatai Idowu Onafowote, said the programme was organised for Procurement Officers to enhance data collation, analysis and publication, adding that the OCDS was created to support organisations for increased transparency and encourage data analysis by a wide range of users all over the world, using a common data model or format.
The Director-General also spoke about the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme, which he said is the product of a mutual agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the World Bank, designed to improve revenue, strengthen and increase fiscal efficiency in public expenditure and reduce debt overhang in the Nigerian States.
Onafowote also explained that in compliance with the SFTAS programme, the Agency had since commenced the publication of contract awards above specific thresholds on its website in the OCDS format, adding that the portal is accessible and open to the general public via the Agency’s website: www.lagosppa.gov.ng.
He further pointed out that procurement officers of Procuring Entities not yet onboarded on the e-procurement platform would also be trained on the OCDS format and the e-procurement system as soon as their MDAs are added later in the year.
The participants were also trained on the use of Google Sheets that would enable them to work real-time and submit their project data directly online from anywhere they are, using the Google Drive account.