States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Programme (SFTAS): Engagement of an Audit Firm to Work With and Support the Office of the Auditor-general for the Federation (AUGF) in its Role as Independent Verification Agent for the SFTAS Programme

Federal Ministry of Finance
States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability And Sustainability Programme (SFTAS)

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) FOR THE ENGAGEMENT OF AN AUDIT FIRM TO WORK WITH AND SUPPORT THE OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL FOR THE FEDERATION (Augf) IN ITS ROLE AS INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION AGENT FOR THE SFTAS PROGRAMME

The Federal Government of Nigeria has agreed with the World Bank on a multi-year (2018-2022) program to support Nigerian states to strengthen fiscal performance and sustainability: The State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Program for Results (“The Program”).

2. The Program will support participating states to implement a strategic set of reforms from two government programs: The Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) and The Open Government Partnership (OGP) commitments. Ex-ante, the Program is open to all states and FCT to participate. The Program will provide performance-based financing to states that meet the annual eligibility criteria and achieve pre-agreed set of results/disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs) related to increasing state-level fiscal transparency and accountability, strengthening state-level domestic revenue mobilization, increasing efficiency in state public expenditures, and strengthening state debt sustainability. For each of the four fiscal/calendar years: 2018-2021, states’ compliance with the eligibility criteria and achievement of the results/DLIs are to be verified through the annual performance assessment (APA). The APA will be carried out by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (AuGF) in their role as the independent verification agent (IVA). Given the importance of having a credible and objective verification process as the performance-based financing disbursements per state will be determined by the number of verified DLRs achieved, an external audit firm will be engaged to work with the AuGF to conduct the four APAs during the 2019-2022.

3. The Home Finance Department in the Federal Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation as the IVA, seeks the services of an experienced audit and/or consulting firm to undertake the following specific tasks under the proposed assignment:

*Work with the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (AuGF) in its role as the IVA for the SFTAS Program in the planning and implementation of the annual performance assessments (APAs), including conducting desk-based reviews, field visits to states and provision of project management services. The APAs will cover all participating states and verify their performance against the approved verification protocol in accordance with the APA process outlined in the Program Operations Manual (OPM).
*Provide training to selected staff of the AuGF to strengthen their capacity to conduct effectively the verification process/APA and the conduct of risk-based audits including IPSAS, ISSAIs reporting, IT skills and others.

4. The Program is expected to commence in October 2018. The assignment is expected to start in Q4 of 2018 with a focus on working with the AuGF as the IVA in planning and organizing the first APA covering the 2018 fiscal year, which is expected to be conducted during January to March of 2019.

5. The selected Firm/consultant is expected to conduct /implement the following activities in the course of the assignment;

*An Inception report and detailed work plan for the conduct of the assignment across all the outlined tasks
*A kick-off workshop to brief all internal and external stakeholders
*Drafts of the joint work plans for the APAs that will be submitted by the IVA to the PCU
*Project management services for the implementation of the APAs
*Participation in all field visits to the states and other state data collection and performance assessment activities as required to implement the APAs
*Comprehensive activity reports on preparations for the APAs and progress on implementation
*Report-writing activities (drafting, reviewing and editing) as required to finalize the verification reports and complete the APAs
*Capacity building activities (workshops and training events) to improve the skills of staff of the AuGF
*Perform other duties as may be required and requested by the Program Manager within the framework of this consultancy

6. The Home Finance Department in the Federal Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with AuGF hereby invites eligible Audit firms to indicate their interest in providing the services. Interested firms should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the services. To qualify for shortlisting, applicants must possess the following qualifications criteria:
*At least a minimum of 8 years of experience in Audit and Public Financial Management
*Experience of working with Supreme Audit Institutions across sub-Saharan Africa and deep knowledge of the standard setting processes adopted by INTOSAI and AFROSAI-E is desirable.
*Familiarity with the Public Service Rules and public financial management operating environment in Nigeria at the Federal level, and at the state level will be an advantage
*The firm must comply fully with the standards and ethical codes of a recognized professional accounting body.
*Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of controls within an IT environment is an advantage
*Successful track record of conducting similar sized projects with national coverage, and of working collaboratively with State Governments
*Proven experience and competence with respect to planning, coordinating and stakeholder management.
*Proven experience and competence in the design and delivery of training and capacity building activities to the public sector

7. A consultancy will be selected in accordance with the procedures set out in the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” (Procurement Regulations) dated July 2016 (revised November 2017) under the “New Procurement Framework (NPF), available at  the World Bank website: https://policies.worldbank.org/sites/ppf3/PPFDocuments/Forms/DispPage.aspx?docid=4005&ver=current

8. The attention of interested Consultancy firm is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers”, setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.  In addition, please refer to the following specific information on conflict of interest related to this assignment: firms and individuals may raise procurement related queries at any stage of the procurement process. Firms and individuals are responsible for raising to the Borrower any issues of ambiguity, contradictions, omission, and lack of clarity, to ensure that they will be able to submit substantially compliant response to the Borrowers requirements as per paragraph 3.17 of the Procurement Regulations.

9. Consultancy firm may associate with other firms to enhance their qualifications but should indicate clearly whether the association is in the form of a joint venture and/or a sub-consultancy. In the case of a joint venture, all the partners in the joint venture shall be jointly and severally liable for the entire contract, if selected.

10. Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours [from 09 hours to 1600 hours] Monday through Friday (Except Public Holidays) from the Program Coordinator, Tel: +2348033462383.

11. Expressions of Interest accompanied by company’s profile must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, or by mail) by Monday, 30^th July, 2018 at 5.00 p.m prompt.
 
The National Program Coordinator
Program Coordinating Unit, Home Finance Department
The Federal Ministry of Finance
Block B’, Room 330, third Floor
Federal Ministry of Finance Building
Central Business District, Abuja
Tel: +2348033462383
Email:bunmisiyanb@yahoo.com