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The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) yesterday said Nigeria had made tremendous improvement in the expenditure of public funds through Public Procurement.
The Director-General of BPP, Mamman Ahmadu, who disclosed this at the the opening ceremony of the second edition of the 2019 conversion training programme for Procurement Officers in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), held in Lagos, said the support of the Federal Government to BPP has boosted the success rate of the procurement reforms and would continue to promote the implementation of the Public Procurement Act (PPA), 2017.
Ahmadu, who was represented by BPP Director, Energy and Infrastructure, Engineer Babatunde Kuye, said the training, started by the BPP about nine years ago, was key to the institutionalisation of procurement reform in the Federal Civil Service. According to him, the training would equip the participants with the right skills to carry out their responsibilities in line with the PPA, 2007 provisions.
Ahmadu said: “The Civil Service being the heartbeat of any nation’s Public Service Administration is central to the implementation of political and economic plans of governments such as the present Next Level thrust of President Muhammadu Buhari.
It is important we get things right in the allocation or use of resources, hence the BPP is strengthening the Public Procurement Reform through continuous training. This three week conversion and certification course geared towards providing the needed expertise in the implementation of the Procurement Reform is a case in point,” he said.
Explaining how procurement process works, Ahmadu said: “It is good to note that when allocations are made in budgets, we do not simply write out letters awarding contracts to contractor A or B based mostly on personal interest as was the case before the reform but based on Due Process of PPA, 2007. It is also noteworthy to mention that the nine essential steps of public procurement start with efficient procurement plan driven by needs assessment.
Then there has to be adequate appropriation, followed by advertisement, and transparent pre-qualification. Bid submission and bid opening process followed by bid evaluation process have to take place as well. Afterwards we have Tender Board or Federal Executive Council (FEC) Approval, and then contract execution. This is becoming entrenched in the Public Service as good credit for the reform”.
