Estate valuer wants public procurement process overhauled

An estate surveyor and valuers, Ebube Etudo, has called for a total overhaul of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), saying it is laden with lots of irregularities. Speaking with journalists in Lagos last week, Etudo who is the principal partner, Etudo & Co,   said in most public procurement exercises conducted by government ministries, departments […]

An estate surveyor and valuers, Ebube Etudo, has called for a total overhaul of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), saying it is laden with lots of irregularities.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos last week, Etudo who is the principal partner, Etudo & Co,   said in most public procurement exercises conducted by government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), less than 10 percent of it was concluded, while the remaining 90 percent was either sabotaged or left inconclusive.
He said the principle of public procurement says that it must be open, competitive and transparent in order to get the best in terms of quality and price, adding that the Act requires that any firm bidding for a government job must be PenCom compliant, must not be a newly registered company, must not evade taxes and must not owe salaries.
“Sadly, the BPP, which has oversight functions over such exercises, seems to be helpless in ensuring that any initiated process is concluded in accordance with the provisions of the enabling Act.” he said.
According to him, the Bureau is aiding and abetting corruption as its officials colluded with procuring entities to tailor jobs to preferred bidders.
“We’ve had occasions where our bid envelops were surreptitiously opened to steal our figures,” Etudo said.
 On the way out, he insisted that the BPP should be completely overhauled while there is need to create enough awareness to make majority of Nigerians be aware of the provisions of the Act, emphasizing that if everybody becomes aware of the provisions, the possibility of joining the crusade would be easier and enthrone accountability and eliminate corruption in our body polity.
“Since the public procurement Act applies to projects or institutions where government has financial commitment of up to 35 per cent or more, it therefore presupposes that by extension, the federal, state and local governments must comply with the provisions of the Act.
This, he further explained, is because they receive more than 35 per cent of their revenue from the federal government,” he said.
He noted that the Public Procurement Act presents a veritable tool to fight the menace of corruption.