Lanier Cansler's involvement in the successful bid for a multimillion-dollar Medicaid processing system should disqualify the company that won the job, according to competitor Electronic Data Systems.

EDS held a 'protest meeting' in Raleigh today where lawyers and EDS executives laid out their case to why the state should not have awarded a $265.2 million contract to its competitor Computer Sciences Corp., Lynn Bonner reports.

Cansler, now Health and Human Services secretary, was a registered lobbyist for CSC for a year before he took his new state job. His former company, Cansler-Fuquay Solutions, was also part of CSC's bid, with the company proposing to use Cansler-Fuquay while the billing system is being installed. The company is identified as a permanent hire for the project.

The request for proposals forbids bidders from using former DHHS executives or consultants who did work related to the company selection, EDS argued.

Cansler-Fuquay's involvement was one of nine reasons EDS gave to support its contention that state's decision to give the contract to CSC should be overturned.

More after the jump.

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Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue on Tuesday chose Lanier Cansler to be the next head of the state Department of Health and Human Services, creating a thicket of conflicts of interest within one of the state's largest agencies, reports Lynn Bonner.

Cansler is a former DHHS deputy secretary who left his state job in 2005 after four years. He started a consulting and lobbying firm, Cansler Fuquay Solutions, and developed a client list that includes work for companies that do business with DHHS.

Cansler was the registered lobbyist for Computer Sciences Corporation, a Virginia company that won a $265.2 million contract a few weeks ago to build and run a Medicaid bill-paying system for the state.

Perdue said she carefully vetted Cansler. "I really believe Secretary Cansler understands that the mission of DHHS is to put our citizens first," she said.

Cansler said his experience inside and outside the department will help him. "My plan is to bring all this experience and background together," Cansler said.

Cansler told reporters that he registered as a lobbyist strictly out of caution. He did no real lobbying other than to introduce his clients to lawmakers.

Perdue said she talked about lobbying issues extensively and that Cansler will not participate in decisions that might present a conflict of interest.

More after the jump.

Update: Post now includes more complete response from Cansler and Perdue. Tense has been changed to reflect the fact that as of today, Cansler is no longer a registered lobbyist.

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