Building Coalitions; Lessons from Nigeria

1. Building Coalitions; Lessons from Nigeria Kampala, Nigeria

2. The Nigerian Procurement Framework • The Public Procurement Act was signed into law on the 4th of June, 2007 • The Procurement process is regulated by the Bureau for Public Procurement under the auspice of a Director General and a national Council on Public Procurement • There is statutory provision for citizens to observe and report on every aspect of the Procurement process in every Federal MDA; specifically, one CSO working in the area of governance and one professional body in the area relevant to the good, work or service been procured.

3. Our Focus • Deepening Multi-Stakeholder Engagement in the Public Procurement Process

4. Every citizen of Nigeria has a role, duty and obligation under this act • A system like this one should help the federal government to work better with contractors, complete more projects, allow only reasonable profits, achieve value for money, create jobs, improve infrastructure and the lives of our citizens. • If procurement reforms fail…The blame of failure will go round

5. Rationale for Focus • Nigeria is country with 810 MDAs at the Federal level • There is need to continuously generate a critical mass of citizens across the country that will observe and report on the procurement process • There is need to deepen the reports that are being produced • There is need to create partnerhips and working relationships between all the stakeholders

6. Stakeholders • Organized citizens sector • Professional bodies • The regulators (Bureau for Public Procurement) • Federal Procuring entities (Ministries, departments and Agencies • The media

7. Our Experience • The best way to start building a coalition is to engage others from a perspective of knowledge. • Acknowledge that procurement monitoring is not a job that can be done by one, two or three organizations • Show personal commitment to initiative • Emphasize the contribution of every stakeholder

8. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity....................Oprah Winfrey

9. Concentrate not upon things which divide us but upon those which bind us together (State of the Union address by Harry, S. Truman January, 7, 1948)

10. Structures.......... • A virtual mailing list • A secretariat • An online monitoring portal

11. The Journey So Far • Growing multi-stakeholder engagement between civil society, professional bodies, the media the Bureau of Public Procurement • Information sharing between CSOs • Still limited but growing access to procurement information • Standard tools for procurement monitoring. E.g. a standard checklist, a procurement monitoring portal, user guide to the standard checklist, simplified versions of the law, printed procurement plans.

12. Needs • The capacity of many more CSOs needs to be built across the country • Much more monitors need to be trained according to specific sectors within which they have expertise • The procurement law needs to be domesticated at the state levels • There is need for Guidelines to ensure that information is not only available but is accessible through a variety of channels

13. Procurement Needs • Build the capacity of procurement officers in public offices to develop detailed procurement plans

14. Strategy within this specific project • We will build the capacity of a network of CSOs to monitor the procurement process within a specific sector. • CSOs will monitor compliance while professional bodies within the sector will monitor technical specifications using a standardized template

15. Strategy….. • The reports will be used by the regulator to seek corrective action where needed • The regulator will ensure access to information for the procurement monitors. • The media will publicize the analyses of procurement process in a way that is digestible to citizens. The media reports will emphasize the social impact of the process. • The media report will form part of the advocacy for procurement laws to be domesticated and implemented at the state level.

16. The Way forward...... • Link the activities of budget analysts, procurement monitors and project implementation monitors • Continue sector specific training for procurement monitors • Maintain a stakeholder partnership with the Bureau of Public Procurement

17. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has” - Magaret Mead