AMIDST growing abuse of public procurement process, indications have emerged that President Bola Tinubu is set to bring down the sledge hammer against some Ministers and heads of Ministries, Department and Agencies of federal government for failing to comply with public procurement regulations.
This is coming against the backdrop of recent requests by the Ministers for increase in the threshold, ahead of the implementation of the 2025 budget, which the President has also put on hold.
Recall that President Tinubu had earlier this year, signed a budget of about N55trn, the highest any Nigerian President has implemented.
In a bid to provide traction for the implementation of the budget, the Federal Executive Council FEC, at its last meeting.
The government however, directed that the 2024 budget should run until June, this year, when the 2025 budget will fully take off.
This newspaper gathered that in a renewed vigor to ensure timely budget implementation, Debo Adebowale Adedokun, Director General DG of the BPP, insisted that all procurement processes must be completed within the first quarter of the year
Following inability of the MDAs to o comply with the timelines at the end of March, George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, issued a memo, shifting the timeline.
He extended the deadline for completion of all procurement plans to the 30th of April, 2025.
The Ministers at a recent meeting of the Federal Executive Council FEC, requested for increase in the threshold and a committee was set up to review the current threshold which was approved in 2023.
But presidency sources told this newspaper that President Tinubu is reluctant to approve a new threshold due to the abuse of the existing one.
In 2022, former President Muhammadu Buhari had approved threshold for contracts.
The President approval, limited threshold to N1.5b for works and N300m, for goods and non-consultant services.
Any contract above the amount was subjected to BPP Certificate of No Objection.
The Ministerial tenders boards under the prevailing threshold have powers to approve contracts up to N1.5b for works, between N20m and N300m, for goods and services.
Contract approval for the Parastatal tenders board was pegged at N100m.
Under the 2022 threshold, the Permanent Secretaries’s approving power was limited to N20m, for goods and N30m for works
It also limited the power of Director General/CEO to N20m for works, and N10m for other contracts.
But a Presidency source disclosed that “many of the heads of MDAs, were engaging in contract splitting to circumvent the procurement regulations
It was reliably gathered that some Ministers were in the habits of bypassing procurement process and going directly to the President for approvals, until the coming of the current DG.
“The President is very unhappy that some Ministers are circumventing the process and going directly to get approvals without first going through the BPP.
“Why a new threshold? The existing threshold is being abused by these heads of MDAs through contract splitting
Our sources however, refused to unveil the affected projects for fear of exposing the Ministers, but added that, “the President has now directed that no contract memo should come to FEC, unless it has first passed through the BPP checks”
This newspaper further gathered that one of the many ways civil servants circumvent the BPP regulations is to delay the processing of contracts until the end of the year.
As the year comes to an end, they pile pressures on the system, requesting for “Special or Restricted method of procurement”, which often do not allow for proper scrutiny of their submission
The 2007 BPP Act was created to prevent such abuses, check corruption, enhance active citizen participation towards achieving better service delivery and improved ease of doing business in Nigeria.
The BPP has the primary objective of harmonising all existing government policies and practices on public procurement to ensure probity, accountability and transparency in the procurement process.
The establishment of the Bureau of Public procurement (BPP) through the BPP Act of 2007, was seen as a novel idea, aimed at creating transparency in public spending, especially in budgeting process and thresholds compliance and open biding.
Adedokun, Director-General, Bpp has however promised to put an end to all forms of malpractices in the system.
Adedokun who believes that Procurement is a critical factor in the delivery of public services, noted that “ if you get the procurement right, 70% of Nigeria’s economic challenges have been addressed.
Speaking at a recent programme for Procurement officers in the MDAs, the DG said “ Procurement, when executed, monitored, and planned effectively, promotes accountability, enhances public confidence in government institutions, and enables the attainment of value for money.
“Nevertheless, it can distort the integrity of our budget outcomes, create bottlenecks, and delay project execution when improperly implemented.
“Our objective is to guarantee that Ministries are not only in compliance with the Public Procurement Act’s provisions, but also remain proactive in their planning and execution”
He assured the officers that the Bureau is dedicated to providing them with the necessary support, including technical guidance, capacity development, and timely responses to the obstacles you encounter, adding that “We are also relying on your ministerial leadership to foster a culture of integrity, efficiency, and compliance in procurement”
The DG, while extending his hands of fellowship to the procurement officers, vowed to sanction anyone that aids in violating the procurement process.
The BPP Act of 2007, also exists to guarantee pricing standards and benchmarks, as well as ensure the application of fair, competitive, transparent, value-for-money standards and practices for the procurement and disposal of public assets.
To aid public procurement, process, the government had established the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal (NOCOPO), to ensure that the practice of public procurement in Nigeria is open and transparent, through increased disclosure of procurement information to all stakeholders with a view to ensuring improved transparency and competition
The policy however failed to achieved the desired impact due to massive insider abuse, sabotage, corruption and other sharp practices, in the procurement process, issues that are now being addressed by Adedokun.
Thus, the SGF, in the memo to Heads of MDAs, directed them to “immediately commence their procurement activities by uploading all outstanding projects and programmes on the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal ( NOCOPO), proceed to publish advertisement in two (2) National Dailies and the Federal Tenders Journal, receive and evaluate bids and obtain approval for award from the appropriate tenders boards.
The memo also mandated the MDAs to publish ” details of such contracts on their respective notice boards and the BPP website, adding that” This is the only verifiable proof that the procurement process has been successfully concluded”.
The federal government warned that the “BPP shall not entertain any request for approval to adopt any special or restricted methods of procurement for projects and programmes under the 2024 financial year, after 30th April, 2025.
This, however, affects projects and programmes whose justifications are are based strictly on budget closure.
Hadiza Bala-Usman, Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination and Head of Central Delivery Coordination Unit @CRDCUPolicyFGN, at a recent event at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, blamed inconsistencies in public policy Implementation, for most of the corrupt acts perpetrated in public service.