Sanwo-Olu swears-in 7-member procurement board, 2 perm secs

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday swore-in a seven-member Public Procurement Agency Governing Board and two permanent secretaries.

Speaking during the swearing-in ceremony at Lagos House, Ikeja, Sanwo-Olu said that the appointment of the procurement agency’s governing board members was predicated on their track record of integrity, experience and professional competence.

He said the board’s duty was to oversee the procurement process by ensuring that public funds were judiciously expended in manner that would promote accountability, transparency and value for money.

”Your major responsibility as members of the Public Procurement Governing Board is to ensure strict adherence to the provisions of the State Public Procurement Law.

”You hold a crucial and strategic role in preventing wasteful spending and corruption in public procurement. The state government and taxpayers count on you to keep the procurement process as transparent as possible,” the governor said.

He said that the appointment of the two permanent secretaries into the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure was part of the move to restructure the ministry into two distinct offices.

Sanwo-Olu said that the two offices were necessitated by the need to engender improved efficiency and faster delivery of key projects under the purview of the ministry.

He urged the secretaries to utilise their wealth of knowledge and experience to expedite and seamlessly deliver works and infrastructure projects.

”You must ensure that we achieve our purpose for restructuring the two offices,” the governor said.

Among the Public Procurement Agency Governing Board members are the Commissioner for Finance, Dr Rabiu Olowo (Chairman), Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Sam Egube and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN.

Others are Mr Fatai Onafowote (General Manager), Mrs Foluso Onabowale, Mr Foluso Mustapha, and Mr Lanre Olusola.

Each Governing Board’s member has a term of three years to serve.

The two permanent secretaries are Mr Adebayo Odusanya (Office of Works) and Mr Rotimi Thomas (Office of Infrastructure).

Giving the vote of assurance on behalf of the procurement board, Mrs Foluso Onabowale thanked the governor for trusting them with the course of steering the wheels of public procurement in the state.

Onabowale promised that the board would exercise its duties justifiably and would not let Lagos State down.