President
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has directed the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP)
that from the 2015 financial year any contractor not in its database should not
be allowed to do contract business of any sort with the Federal Government.
The
President made this known on Monday in Abuja, when he declared open the first
National Conference on Public Procurement (NACOPP), with the theme “Public
Procurement: A tool for Good Governance.”
The
President’s directive followed BPP’s categorisation and classification of
Federal Contractors and service providers into equal competences and capacity
for bidding purposes.
Speaking
through the Vice President Arc Mohammed Namadi Sambo, the President also said
that any company debarred by the World Bank, Africa Development Bank and UNDP,
as well as other development partners stands automatically debarred from
contracting processes in Nigeria.
“This
action is intended to eliminate distortions in bidding costs that tend to
create the impression that project costs in Nigeria are higher than in other
countries,” he said.
President
Jonathan, who noted that reforms in the procurement process had yielded
positive results on the economy, said “being a good governance tool,
procurement reform has enhanced the activities of other agencies of
government.”
He also
revealed that as a first in the World “Nigeria is setting up the first
International Procurement Platform to facilitate an interface between a
regulatory authority and procuring entities and service providers.”
President
Jonathan, while reaffirming his commitment to further strengthen the BPP,
commended the 24 states that have passed procurement laws, charging the
remaining 12 to urgently follow suit, while also urging all the States to give
adequate protection to the regulatory agencies to effectively discharge their duties.
“It is
important to reiterate that Nigeria runs one economy and therefore the need for
one set of rules governing our contracting processes cannot be over emphasised.
All
States that are yet to pass the law are urged to pass them while those that
have passed the law are urged to strengthen them in order to ensure delivery of
services at best cost to the people,” the President said.
The
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that the BPP was an
important agency of government, adding that it was a tool for fiscal saving and
transparency. She called on stakeholders to support the Bureau in the discharge
of its mandate.
Also in
his own address, the Director-General of the BPP, Dr. Emeka Eze, said the
Conference was intended to bring all states of the federation to subscribe to
one set of National procedure in public procurement.
Dr. Eze
said that as part of its mandate to reduce the scope of corruption and improve
efficiency in the system, the Bureau from year 2009 to date had saved the
country over N528 billion in project reviews. He also disclosed that the BPP
had recommended over 180 companies to the ICPC and the EFCC for investigation
on fraudulent activities.
The
Public Procurement Act was enacted in 2007, establishing the BPP. The BPP is
charged with the responsibility to amongst others provide legal and
institutional framework and professional capacity for public procurement in
Nigeria.
The 1st
National Conference on Public Procurement is holding in Abuja from November,
10-11, 2014. The conference is hosted by the National Public Procurement Forum
(NPPF) and being implemented by the National Planning Committee and supported
by the BPP
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