Fred Itua, Abuja
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, yesterday, lamented some loopholes inherent in the 2007 Public Procurement Act, which according to him breeds corruption in the system and frustrate project implementation.
He has therefore vowed to carry out a holistic review of the Act within the next few months, as a way of sanitising Nigeria’s contract contracts awards and execution processes.
Making the observation while in audience with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha and Permanent Secretaries from the Presidency, Lawan said the Act as presently structured, frustrates contracts awards and execution.
Lawan noted that a holistic review and amendment of the law was urgently needed, promising the Senate would kick-start the process soon.
He said: “The Public Procurement in Nigeria as far as I can see is not the best in the world. The Public Procurement must be reviewed and amended, we must see how we can make it more practical and holistic within the shortest possible time .
“From the stage of bidding to mobilisation, the costing of any government contracts must be uniform in order to avoid imbalances and embarrassment in the processes.
“A situation where about twenty agencies of government buy the same brand of vehicles at grossly different prices is not good .
“Market prices must be determined and adhere strictly to in ensuring that Nigerians are not shortchanged through abuse of process or over -invoicing .
“Even the 15 per cent mobilisation fee specified in the Act by the realities on ground is more of demobilising contractors than mobilising them with attendant loopholes for fraudulent practices.”
He added that as a way of managing the Act in its present format, pending the planned review, the ninth Senate would ensure that its standing committee on Public Procurement will be composed of members who have the required knowledge and experience of the entire process .
“Our Public Procurement committee will be a very strong committee this time round. The cost of projects in Nigeria is mostly the highest in the world. We cannot continue like this, not in the face of very scarce resources.
“So, we are going to insist that the public procurement particularly is considered better than before. If there’s should be a purchase of buses by ten or twenty Ministries, the cost must be uniform so that we don’t drag into crisis what we buy.
“The Procurement Committee when in place, will make sure we work towards achieving this set agenda in order to avoid putting the public at disadvantaged position,” he explained.
Earlier, the SGF applauded the President of the Senate for starting on a vibrant note.
He said the Nigerian project is of great importance to the present administration, urging members of the parliament to continue to strengthen the ties with other arms of government in order to achieve the set agenda of the Buhari administration in good time.
Mustapha charged senators to always put the nation first, promising that the Executive arm was determined to ensure a successful tenure in office of the leadership of the National Assembly and it’s members.