In a bid to improve transparency and accountability in
contracts entered into by public and private enterprises in the country, the
Federal Government says it will launch a contract disclosure web portal. The
acting Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC),
Mr. Chidi Izuwah said this on Wednesday in Abuja at a Public Private
Partnership (PPP) training workshop organised by the World Bank.
Izuwah said the ICRC
and the World Bank had been working together to ensure more
openness and transparency
in PPPs in Nigeria. To this end, stakeholder engagements
had taken place
and an improved PPP Disclosure Framework
developed with MDAs
input and buy in. Web portal There were currently 51 ongoing PPP
projects entered into
by the Federal Government,
cutting across all sectors
and 77 pipeline projects which
the public may not be aware of.
He said that the Website was set to launch at the end of
August, 2017 and that all federal government’s Ministries, Agencies and
Departments were expected to disclose fully all their PPP contracts. “This disclosure
initiative is designed
to ensure that
all non-confidential information relating to PPP contracts, both pre and post
contract information is made available
and easily accessible to members of the public.
“The disclosure is expected to bring improvement and
engender confidence in PPP contract transactions in Nigeria. “It is
also hoped that Nigerians, through the disclosure, will be better
educated and informed on the salient features of PPP contracts. “This includes agreed standards of service, scope
of work, parties to the contract,
general overview of the project, social and economic benefits of the project,
as well as risk allocation and the actual performance levels achieved,’’
he said. Izuwah said that the portal was not just directed for local use, but
would also serve to encourage foreign direct investments into the country.
He also said that the new process would ensure that
contractors keep their own side of the bargain. “For example, at the airport,
what quality of service should you expect, what are your entitlements, what are
you paying for? “All these information will be made available so that Nigerians
will be equipped to be able to insist and get the services they are entitled
to,’’ he said. Also, the Senior Consultant on Public Private Partnerships,
World Bank Group, Mr. Prashant Sharma said the bank was assisting Nigeria,
Kenya, Honduras and Ghana develop a PPP Contract Information Disclosure
website. He said this would improve transparency in the procurement process and
when the website goes live in August, Nigeria would be the leading country in
the world in transparency and accountability in PPP contracts.
“We have been working with the ICRC over the last one year to
develop an organized platform to actually deliver information and disclose
information about public private partnership. “To create a platform through which all relevant information,
useful for the public to know more about public private partnerships are made
public in a organized and systemized way,’’ he said.
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