Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Government has implored the Permanent Secretaries in the civil service to strive at achieving 100 percent budget implementation by resisting attempts to subvert extant rules and regulations.
This is even as the Governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, has called on the Federal Permanent Secretaries to conduct official matters in tandem with the provision of the Public Procurement Act, Financial Regulations, Public Service Rules and Appropriate Laws.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, gave the charge at the weekend during the opening ceremony of the 2018 procurement retreat of the Federal Permanent Secretaries in Calabar, Cross River State.
According to a statement, the Director, Media and Public Relations, Olawunmi Ogunmosunle, Oyo-Ita, explained that the procurement retreat is to increase the capacity of Permanent of Permanent Secretaries to provide the leadership which is critical to enhancing delivery on the National Budget.
She said the retreat provides another avenue to further renew the commitment to deepening the on-going Public Service Reforms by affirming the commitment to serve effectively as machinery for implementing government policies and programmes for the greater good of the citizenry and the country.
The theme of the 2018 Procurement Retreat for Federal Permanent Secretaries is “Public Procurement for Sustainable National Development”.
Ayade, represented by the Deputy Governor, Ivara Ejemot Esu, stated that good governance is fundamental to the success of any administration.
He urged Permanent Secretaries to adopt the critical values of accountability, transparency, maintenance of rule of law, efficiency and effectiveness which are germane to good governance.
The retreat was organized by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and the Bureau of Public Procurement.
The retreat objectives include: review of compliance level of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with particular reference to procurement plans and records; reiteration of the responsibilities of accounting officers under the PPA 2007; how to ensure efficient procurement systems in 2018; how to fast track 2018 budget implementation through best practices; overview of Nigerian open Government Partnership (OGP) and Executive Orders no 003 and update on National Database of Federal Contractors.
Participants in the 8th retreat included the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Permanent Secretaries, Auditor- General for the Federation, Accountant – General of the Federation and the Director General of Bureau of Public Procurement.