Open Contracting Data Standards (KAD0002)

Commitment 2: FuIl implementation of Open Contracting Data Standards in the public sector.
Start and end date:
September 2018 - August 2020
Lead MDAJCSO:
Public Procurement Authority/LAEDS
Responsible persons:
Thomas Gang / Rebecca Sake-John
Designation:
Director General PPA (Co-Chair TWO)/ LEADS NIGERIA (Co-Chair TWG)
Email and Phone:
tgyang2002@yahoo.cauki bekkiejohn@gmail.com
Other Actors involve in implementation:
Government
Planning and Budget Commission, Ministry of Justice, Media & Communication Office, Ministry of Works, Transport & Housing, Ministry of Education, Science & Technology, Ministry of Finance, Ministry or Health and Human Resources, Ministry of Education, Kaduna State Facility Management Agency (KADFAMA), State Emer-gency Management Agency, Kaduna State Road Agency, Ministry of Water Resources, State House of Assembly
CSOs, Private sector, etc.
LEADS, Ikulu Youth Progressive Movement, Barnawa Community, Yell Network, ICOVAP, CALPED, Budgit, KYB & Connecting Voices Initiative, K.I.F., National Accord, Community Youth Volunteer Network Initiative, Mobilization for Emp. & Dev, Asso. of Nigeria, ANAYD, Jere Community Association, MEMCOS, BRPAC, ICOVAP, KWU1, e-CAPH, TransparenclT, GEED Foundation,
General problem challenge addressed by the commitment:
The linkage between budget and procurement data through a delivery chain to enhance public service delivery remains a challenge. In addition, Ministries, Departments and Agencies do not proactively disclose procurement information in a uniform format that is accessible to all citizens. Public participation in the procurement process is quite minimal.
Main Objective:
To improve accountability and transparency of the procurement processes through the implementation of open contracting and public participation in the open contracting process.
Brief description of commitment:
Kaduna State Government commits to progressive implementation of open contracting and the adoption of the open contracting data standards to enhance transparency, accountability and citizen engagement in public procurement and fiscal transparency. Priority will be given to at least 5 MDAs at the heart of government development priority (Works, Transportation, & Housing, Agriculture, Health, Education, and Environmental & Natural Resources)
Specific OOP challenge addressed by commitment:
Citizens are not carried along in the public contracting process with many believing it is only friends and allies of govern-ment that are being awarded contracts_ Knowledge of civic rights and responsibilities to effectively engage the contracting process and track its implementation is quite limited thus some of the contracts are poorly done. Implementation of open contracting will help to improve public service integrity, trust and ensure that a greater amount of public resources are managed more effectively and efficiently to derive value for money.
Rationale for commitment:
Transparency, accountability, competition and citizens engagement
Expected Outcome/impact:
Achievement of better value for money in public contract delivery and reduction of corruption and fraud in public procurement processes. ii. Provide level playing ground and competitiveness. ]mproved perception of citizens in public contracting process
Performance indicators:
i. Number of media and community encagement platforms used for the sensitization and feedback by the government, citizens and civil societies in line vv:th open contracting data siandards ii. Operatioralise the e- procurement portal to be OLDS compliant piloting with Ministry of Health, Education, Agriculture, Environment and Works, Housing & ransport August 2020. iii. Number of NADAS complying with the PPA guidelines.
Specific Activities/Milestones Start Date End date
1. Increase the use of media and community engagement platforms for sensitization of stakeholders. Sept 2018 Aug 2019 • Sensitisation of media practitioners to understand open contracting principles towards adopting standard reporting practices on public contract delivery. • Sensitisation of communities/citizens and other stakeholder on existing or emerging media platforms to engage in Dec 2019 May 2019 accessing public contract information monitor the processes and contract implementation. • Track and scale up stakeholders engagement platforms providinc feedback on iv1DAs compliance with OCDS and Dec 2019 Aug 2020 PPA guidelines.
2. Enhance and structure the existing Kaduna State portal to incorporate more features that are OCDS compliant; Pilot- Ministry of F lealth, Education, Agriculture, Environment and Works, Housing & Transport. • Completion of collation and harmonization of data for Kaduna State Portal linking it to other relevant MDAs including Sept 2018 Nov 2018 the Eyes & Ears Citizens FeedBack APP. • Public Sensitisation and test running of KADPPA portal, addressing feedback and giving responses. Sept 2018 Feb 2019 • Upload and full operationalisation of Kaduna State portal. Dec 2018 March 2019
3. Scale up the compliance with the open contracting principles, PPA rules and guidelines in these priority 1RDAs (Ministry of Health, Education, Agriculture, Environment and Works, Housing & Transport ) in procurement processes_ • Refresher for pilot MDAs towards full compliance with Public Procurement guidelines and generating records for ODDS • Tracking compliance of PPA guidelines by Ivlinis-ry of Health and Education. • Tracking for compliance of PPA guidelines by Ministry of Agriculture; Works, Housing & Transport_
Oct 2018 Aug 2020
Oct 2018 Oct 2018
Aug 2020 Aug 2020
Source of Funding: Kaduna State Government, CSOs, private sector and Development Partners

Commitment 2: Open Contracting Data Standard

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan ^[12]

“Kaduna State Government commits to progressive implementation of open contracting and the adoption of the open contracting data standards to enhance transparency, accountability and citizen engagement in public procurement and fiscal transparency. Priority will be given to at least 5 MDAs at the heart of government development priority (Works, Transportation, & Housing, Agriculture, Health, Education, and Environmental & Natural Resources).”

Milestones:

1. Increase the use of media and community engagement platforms for sensitisation of stakeholders.
2. Sensitisation of media practitioners to understand open contracting principles towards adopting standard reporting practices on public contract delivery.
3. Sensitisation of communities/citizens and other stakeholder on existing or emerging media platforms to engage in accessing public contract information monitor the processes and contract implementation.

• Track and scale up stakeholder’s engagement platforms providing feedback on MDAs compliance with OCDS and PPA guidelines.

2. Enhance and structure the existing Kaduna State portal to incorporate more features that are OCDS compliant; Pilot- Ministry of Health, Education, Agriculture, Environment and Works, Housing & Transport.
3. Completion of collation and harmonisation of data for Kaduna State Portal linking it to other relevant MDAs including Sept 2018 Nov 2018 the Eyes & Ears Citizens FeedBack APP.
4. Public Sensitisation and test running of KADPPA portal, addressing feedback and giving responses.

• Upload and full operationalisation of Kaduna State portal.

3. Scale up the compliance with the open contracting principles, PPA rules and guidelines in these priority MDAs (Ministry of Health, Education, Agriculture, Environment and Works, Housing & Transport) in procurement processes
4. Refresher for pilot MDAs towards full compliance with Public Procurement guidelines and generating records for ODDS
5. Tracking compliance of PPA guidelines by Ministry of Health and Education.

• Tracking for compliance of PPA guidelines by Ministry of Agriculture; Works, Housing & Transport

Lead institutions: Public Procurement Authority, LAEDS

Start Date: Sep 2018

End Date: Aug 2020

Context and Objectives

Commitment 2 aims to ensure full implementation of the Open Contracting Data Standard to improve the accountability in and transparency of the procurement process. ^[13]

In 2015 Kaduna State scored 3 out of 100 on provision of public procurement information, indicating that scant information on procurement processes is made publicly available. ^[14] The state’s public procurement law establishes the Kaduna State Public Procurement Authority. ^[15] The government has established the legislative and administrative framework to ensure fiscal transparency.

However, Rebecca Sako-John of the Lawful Engagement and Development Society expressed concern that public participation in procurement processes is limited because officers are not willing to disclose information on procurement matters. ^[16] Moreover, public disclosure alone will not guarantee that the public participates.

Suleiman Muhammad of Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency confirmed that the state has an open contracting data portal that publishes contract data online. ^[17] However, the IRM researcher found that the portal is not currently functioning. ^[18] Lawrence Obeweh of Initiative for Collective Voice, Accountability and Progress explained that the portal’s nonfunctionality is a result of unresolved issues between the government and the consultant managing the portal. ^[19] Although the portal was functional and accessible to a limited group of users, the government temporarily suspended public access to “harmonise” the platform with other citizen engagement platforms. ^[20]

The Kaduna OGP action plan states that the overall challenge in public procurement results from public authorities not proactively disclosing procurement information in a uniform format accessible to all citizens. Thus, public participation in the procurement process is minimal.

The commitment entails progressive proactive disclosure of uniform procurement information by public authorities to citizens through the use of the Open Data Contracting Standard (OCDS). It also aims to ensure that the public can participate in the procurement process to improve accountability and transparency in contracting processes. By enabling citizens to ask questions about compliance with the OCDS and request information on procurement, the commitment fosters civic participation. For example, citizens could demand a bill of quantities from project contractors and notify the government of noncompliance. ^[21]

Kaduna is among the top 10 states in Nigeria with active internet subscription. ^[22] However, the OCDS portal is not accessible to the majority of citizens. Only contractors and “elites” could access information in the portal when it was online. ^[23] Tenders for contracts are usually placed on state government and ministry, department, and agency websites, as well as in newspapers. ^[24]

Citizens also face bureaucratic hurdles to gathering procurement information. Rebecca Sako-John noted that the state has a review mechanism to resolve complaints or disputes over procurement decisions. However, it requires lengthy bureaucratic procedures. ^[25] A citizen registers a complaint with the system, and the complaint is terminated only when the citizen is satisfied with the status of the complaint. However, the complaints review mechanism is not online. ^[26]

This commitment aligns with the OGP values of civic participation, access to information, and technology and innovation for transparency and accountability. The milestones in this commitment are specific enough to be verifiable. The provision of an online portal in conjunction with community sensitisation efforts creates mechanisms to increase public engagement in the procurement process. Specifically, an online feedback platform to allow citizens to report on procurement and open data compliance promises to enable citizens to monitor open contracting compliance. ^[27] Given that this commitment seeks to track sanctioning, rather than change sanctions for noncompliance under the Public Procurement Law of 2017, it is not coded under public accountability. ^[28] All three milestones may increase civil society involvement in the prequalification phase for contractors, the tender process, and the monitoring of projects. ^[29]

This commitment is expected to have a moderate potential impact on government practices. The commitment aims to create an enabling environment and establish prerequisites for consistent and sustainable open contracting data standards in Kaduna State. ^[30] Sensitising the media and citizens on the principles of open contracting and creating an online portal displaying contract information that meets the OCDS are positive steps toward providing citizens with public procurement data. ^[31] However, civil society representatives observed that the majority of citizens do not have access to computers, smartphones, and internet facilities in the state. This can limit the number of people who will access the public procurement data. ^[32]

Next Steps

Moving forward, it will be crucial to implement the Open Contracting Data Standard. The government should consider the following actions:

• Ensure that contract information provided to the public is simplified and published in a more user-friendly format, so citizens can understand it fully. The information should also be published and distributed offline, given internet accessibility deficiencies.
• Expand the procurement data made available to cover all the Local Government Councils in the state. ^[33]
• Streamline the mechanisms for complaints or disputes over procurement decisions to reduce the length of bureaucratic procedures.