Contract inflation: BPP saves N569bn in 7 years, says DG

The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) says it has saved the Federal Government over N569 billion through contracts’ reduction in the last seven years. Its Director-General, Mr Emeka Ezeh, said this in a lecture entitled, “Public Procurement Process, Public Accountability and National Development”, at the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja.

Eze said that the bureau had restored confidence in the procurement processes in Nigeria.

“You do not have to know anyone anymore to get a job in most cases,” he said. Ezeh said that it was important for NDC’s senior military officers to be familiar with good procurement processes as a strategic tool for good governance. He said that it was important to ensure prudent management of funds allocated to the defence sector.

The director-general said that at the moment, procurement in the defence sector was ridden with poor procurement practices.

“There is currently no strategic procurement plan in place for a long-term procurement agreement as applicable in other countries. This has led to procurement of the same type of products over a period of time. No adherence to the format of the bid security as indicated in the standard bidding documents. There is also political interference and the scope of work are not properly defined in most cases.”

In his remarks, the Commandant of NDC, Rear Admiral Ndidi Agholor, said that it was important for leaders to respect the law in different aspects of leadership.

“As a strategic leader, you must realise that resources are scarce. And to that extent, it is good that before the participants graduate, they know the provisions of our public procurement. Knowing all this will ensure that they (officers) are able to provide due diligence when they eventually take positions of responsibility.” He pledged to ensure that procurement of goods and services were done in collaboration with the bureau.