October 17, 2012 by Everest Amaefule
The
Federal Government has saved about $700m (N110bn) through the
implementation of due process in procurement and the award of contracts
since the establishment of the Bureau of Public Procurement.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Character
and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator Awaisu Kuta, disclosed this while
speaking at the conversion training for procurement officers of
ministries, departments and agencies in Abuja on Monday.
Also speaking at the event, the Lead Procurement
Expert, World Bank, Mr. Bayo Awuse, said delays in the implementation of
the nation’s budgets should be blamed on the lack of a procurement
plan.
Kuta said BPP had been able to check the high
incidence of inflation of contracts, but advised the agency to evolve
ways of reducing the time it took to make its verifications.
The senator added that both foreign and local
contractors were inflating contract costs, defrauding the country and
putting influential Nigerians, including retired military officers and
public officials, on their payrolls.
“It is now a waste of time to inflate contracts
because it will easily be dictated by BPP. We call on BPP to evolve a
faster approach to vetting contracts so that the contracts can be
executed,” he said.
Kuta said a situation where ministers and other high
ranking public officials acted as contractors and commissioned agents
would make the work of BPE difficult.
He also asked the government to pay procurement officials well in order to enable them to live a decent life.
Awuse, on the other hand, said Nigeria had made tremendous progress since the procurement reform began in 1999.
He attributed the delay in the implementation of budgets in the country to lack of procurement plan.
Awuse said, “One thing we have to think about is
procurement planning. We must review why our budgets are not 100 per
cent implemented. I have found that even before the procurement reforms,
Nigeria’s budgets don’t get implemented 100 per cent.
“So, procurement cannot be the reason for the delay
in budget implementation. I am not saying that it may not contribute to
it. We don’t plan. We don’t have procurement plan for the budget.”
The Director-General, BPP, Mr. Emeka Eze, said the
training programme was organised as part of the programme to build a
pool of knowledge on procurement.
SOURCEThe Punch - Nigeria's Most Widely Read Newspaper: 17 October 2012.
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