By Josephine Oguntoyinbo

The Ondo State House of Assembly has commenced the second phase of its public sitting on the 2023 reports submitted by the State Bureau of Public Procurement (ODBPP), reiterating its commitment to ensuring strict compliance with the law governing public procurement practices.

Speaking during the session, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee on Public Procurement, Olatunji Ifabiyi, underscored the Assembly’s constitutional mandate to review reports from government agencies, particularly the ODBPP in line with the law enacted in 2017.

“We are here in continuation of the report we received from the ODBPP, which is part of the constitutional rights of the State House of Assembly. It is unfortunate that some bureaucratic officers are claiming ignorance of this law,” Ifabiyi stated.

“Be that as it may, we are here to ensure that everyone strictly adheres to the provisions of the law and nothing more. And where there is no offence, there is nothing to prosecute. After all, some ministries and agencies are not mentioned in the report,” he added.

He commended the twenty MDAs for their adherence to the procurement law and acknowledged the efforts of the ODBPP director-general for organising regular training and retraining programmes for MDAs.

“Every ministry has a procurement unit, so no one can claim ignorance of this law, except those addicted to their old ways,” Ifabiyi stressed.

He assured that the Assembly is not out to witch-hunt any agency, but rather to uphold transparency and accountability.

He warned that any agency found to be deliberately non-compliant would be held accountable, stating, “Those that are recalcitrant in nature, we are ready to put them on their toes.”

It will be recalled that the Ondo State House of Assembly held the first phase of the public sitting for two days last week, which featured appearances by various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) according to a scheduled timetable.

The Chairman had explained that the audit, the first of its kind by the House since 2017, was aimed at reinforcing public trust in government financial transactions and promoting transparency, probity and accountability in the system.

The two-day exercise is expected to end tomorrow.

MDAs in attendance lauded the Ad-hoc Committee and the ODBPP for the initiative, describing it as a step towards enhancing effectiveness and transparency in the system to achieve the set objectives.