Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday, said government officials representing Nigeria during contract negotiations are bereft of the required knowledge to represent the country.
Osinbajo noted that the quality of the officials who represented the country at negotiations reflects in the nation’s economy.
He revealed this at the opening of a two-day physical and virtual capacity building training for Nigerian negotiators organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC),
He stressed that the poorly negotiated agreements and poor monitoring were the prominent causes of financial losses by nations.
He said: “People must be held responsible for poorly negotiated contracts while transparency and due process must be encouraged.”
In his speech, the Chairman of ICPC, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye, while speaking on ‘Guidelines for Negotiating International Agreements for Economic Development,’ said that development is the essence of governance.
Tbe Special Assistant to the President on Economic Matters, Dr Yemi Dipeolu, who also spoke at the event said the nation must develop “a corps of negotiators who could tackle the menace of illicit financial flows.”
The training was organised in collaboration with the Inter-Agency Committee on Stopping Illicit Financial Flows from Nigeria.