Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday said there was a greater need for transparency in the award of Federal Government contracts to provide a level playing ground for all bidders.

Osinbajo stated this during a dialogue session he had with over 70 Civil Society Organizations in Nigeria under the aegis of the ‘Situation Room’.

He stated that the current procedure that mandates the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to ensure that contract bids are published in two national newspapers is not enough, insisting that the provision of a functional and dedicated website would improve on the status quo.

He said : “I do agree that there is need for greater transparency with respect to government contracts, such that you can have a website where every contract is published.

“Now that is a good thing, but at the moment, what we have or the requirement of the law is that every contract that goes through the BPP must be advertised in two national dailies.

“But the constraint of that is also cost. Many agree that it will increase the cost for especially the small players and also increase the cost of contracts because you have to advertise in two dailies,” Osinbajo said.

“I agree that the website will be a perfect answer and some may recall that I signed an Executive Order while I was the Acting President, on ensuring that all the websites of our ministries and parastatals were up,” he added.