PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

Why Is Proficient Public Procurement So Important?

Public procurement is the process by which LAMATA buy the inputs for vital public-sector investments. Those investments, both in physical infrastructure and in strengthened institutional and human capacities, lay foundations for the State development. In procurement terms, those inputs are generally grouped into three categories:

• Civil Works - for example, bridges and buildings, and highways

• Goods - typically equipment, materiel and supplies and

• Services - expert advice and training, conventionally labeled Technical Assistance, as well as such things as building maintenance, engineering designs and supervision of civil works, computer programming, etc.

The quality, timeliness, local appropriateness and affordability of those procured inputs can largely determine whether the public investments will succeed or fail. So the beneficial impact and contribution of the input, particularly in the case of technical assistance services, can exceed their direct costs, by several orders of magnitude.

LAMATA will have four basic concerns that govern its procurement policies:

• To ensure that the goods and services needed to carry out the project are procured with due attention to economy and efficiency;

• To ensure that any external finance/loans/credits, LSG budget and Transport Fund are used to buy only those goods, works and services needed to carry out the project;

• To encourage development of local contractors and manufacturers in Nigeria; and

• To ensure that the procurement process is transparent.

The LAMATA’s procurement guidelines and procedures have been designed to promote fairness and equal treatment. Download document in PDF format