Vice President Osinbajo demands transparency as World Bank $80m SPESSE project begins

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Osinbajo demands transparency as World Bank $80m SPESSE project begins -  Daily Post Nigeria

Juliet Damilola

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo launched the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) World Bank project in Abuja on Thursday.

He demanded for accountability and transparency, noting that the procurement touched on different sectors of the economy.

According to him, the construction and rehabilitation of buildings, acquisition and development of lands, purchase of laboratory equipment, disposal of reagents and samples, among others must conform with global standards.

“There is an absolute need to build adequate technical capacity required for efficient and effective procurement, environmental and social safeguard systems,” he said.

Osinbajo believes investment in the SPESSE would help institutionalise the practice of procurement, environmental and social standards in Nigeria.

The VP noted that the project was in line with the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the federal government.

World Bank Country Director, Shubham Chaudhuri, expressed optimism that the project would yield desired results.

“There is a need for human capital development and this is what this project has to offer. I am thrilled that this critical need will be addressed through SPESSE”, he said.

Project Coordinator, Joshua Atah explained SPESSE has a span of five years with $80million budget.

Atah disclosed that 37.5 per cent is for technical assistance, while 62.5 per cent would be disbursed based on performance using Disbursement Link Indicators (DLI).

Six tertiary institutions across Nigeria have been earmarked to run the courses for the project; 25,240 candidates will be trained.

The schools are the University of Lagos, Federal University of Technology Owerri, University of Benin, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi.

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