Still on reducing corruption in public procurement system
The report discovered that at least, 60 percent of public funds were going into private pockets without much hindrance. The federal government then decided that there was need for some form of reforms in the system to introduce competition, quality, transparency and efficiency in the processes. This resulted in the establishment of the Budget Monitoring […]
The report discovered that at least, 60 percent of public funds were going into private pockets without much hindrance. The federal government then decided that there was need for some form of reforms in the system to introduce competition, quality, transparency and efficiency in the processes. This resulted in the establishment of the Budget Monitoring and Price Implementation Unit (BMPIU) by the federal government. The office was charged with the responsibility of overseeing government budget implementation process.
However, not too long after the establishment of the BMPIU, the government again discovered that the activities of BMPIU were not enough to tackle the obsolete procurement practices. As a result, the Public Procurement Bill was produced and sent to the National Assembly in 2003/2004 for consideration and passage into law. The proposed law was to provide the legal backing for full blown procurement reform where all the processes were reviewed and enhanced for efficiency and effectiveness.
The Bill was eventually passed and the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua signed it into law on June, 4, 2007, ending an era in the nation’s life without a legislation on procurement.
The new law provided the establishment of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), gave it the powers to enforce the monetary and prior review thresholds set by the Council for the application of the provisions of this Act by the procuring entities; subject to the paragraph (a) of this subsection, issue certificate of “No Objection” for Contract Award within the prior review threshold for all procurements within the purview of this Act; from time to time stipulate to all procuring entities, the procedures and documentation pre-requisite for the issuance of Certificate of “No Objection” under this Act; where reason exist: cause to be inspected or review any procurement transaction to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Act and review and determine whether any procuring entity has violated any provision of this Act.
The BPP was also given the powers to debar any supplier, contractor or service provider who contravenes any provisions of this Act and regulations made pursuant to this Act; Maintain a national database of federal contractors and service providers and to the exclusion of all procuring entities, prescribe classifications and categorizations for the companies on the register: maintain a list of firms and persons that have been debarred from participating in public procurement activity and publish them in the procurement journal; call for such information proceeding where a breach, wrongdoing, default, mismanagement and or collusion has been alleged, reported or proved against a procuring entity or service provider.
Other powers of the Bureau as provided in the Acts, are: (i) recommend to the Council, where there are persistent or serious breaches of this Act, regulations or guidelines made under this Act for; (i) the suspension of officers concerned with the procurement or disposal proceeding in issue: (ii) the replacement of the head or any of the members of the procuring or disposal unit of any entity or the Chairperson of the Tenders Board as the case may be: (iii) the discipline of the Accounting Officer of any procuring entity: (iv) the temporary transfer of the procuring and disposal function of a procuring and disposing entity to a third party procurement agency or consultant; or (v) any other sanction that the Bureau may consider appropriate amongst others.
The Bureau is saddled with the responsibility to formulate the general policies and guidelines relating to public sector procurement for the approval of the Council; Publicize and explain the provisions of this Act: subject to thresholds as may be set by the council, certify federal procurements prior to the award of contracts and supervise the implementation of establishment procurement policies.
Other functions are: monitor the prices of tendered items and keep a national database of standard prices; publish the details of major contracts in the procurement journal; publish paper and electronic editions of the procurement journal and maintain an archival system for the procurement journal; Maintain a national database of the particulars and classification and categorization of federal contractors and service providers and collate and maintain in an archival system, all federal procurement plans and information.
From the powers and functions of the Bureau, it is clear that the BPP has a strong legal backing to implement a robust procurement regime in the country. Unfortunately, corrupt public officials continue to connive with contractors to frustrate effective implementation of the procurement laws. This was admitted by President Goodluck Jonathan, who while speaking at the 10 anniversary celebration of the BPP in Abuja recently. He identified contract splitting, manipulation of the pre-qualification process and disregard for bidding regulations/payment guidelines as some of the major challenges that the Bureau faces today.
While it must be acknowledged that the BPP continues to make significant efforts to reduce corruption in the procurement system at the federal level (including the N216billion that was saved last year by the BPP), it is clear that more work needs to be done to bring corruption in public procurement to a minimal level. For the Bureau to achieve this however, the federal government must be willing to give its full support at all times to the Bureau, as the BPP continues in its strive to reduce corruption in the procurement process.
Ahmed Abdallah write from Abuja