ICRC to drive awareness creation with new website on concession activities
The acting Director-General, Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr. Chidi Izuwah, on Wednesday in Abuja, disclosed at a Public Private Partnership (PPP) training workshop organised by the World Bank that all is set for the launch of governments’ contract disclosure website.
He said the idea is to avail Nigerians and interested parties unlimited access to biddings and allied information on government privatization and concession activities.
Izuwah said that the emerging portal was not just directed for local use, but would also serve to encourage foreign direct investments into the country.
ICRC boss noted that the new process would ensure that contractors keep their own side of the bargain.
He said the site will improve transparency and accountability in contracts entered into by public and private enterprises in the country.
Giving additional details of the activities and performance of the Commission, Izuwah revealed that “there were currently 57 ongoing PPP projects entered into by the Federal Government, cutting across all sectors and 77 pipeline projects which the public might not know”.
While assuring that the website will be live from next month, he disclosed further that henceforth, “all Federal Government’s Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) 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.
Earlier in his address, facilitator of the training and Senior Consultant on PPP at the World Bank Group, Mr Prashant Sharma, said the bank was assisting Nigeria, Kenya, Honduras and Ghana to develop a PPP Contract Information Disclosure website.
The target, according to him is to drive transparency in the procurement process.
