It is heartening, however, that the anti-graft agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), is perfecting arrangements to prosecute about 156 companies found to have violated the procurement and due process laws.The ICPC Chairman, Ekpo Nta, disclosed the plans in Abuja recently through the scribe of the commission, Mr.Elvis Oglafa, during a public presentation of the final monitoring and inspection reports for Federal Government projects, covering the years 2009 -2011.
He confirmed that there had been flagrant abuse of Due Process and Public Procurement laws.Under the Public Procurement Act 2007, Due Process is supposed to be followed in the award of contracts to ensure that government gets Value for Money (VfM) in its procurement activities.
It is sad and disconcerting that the extant laws on procurement and due process are being subverted at will by companies. The ICPC will need to diligently prosecute the offending firms.
Laws are relevant only when they are enforced and obeyed. It must be stated that under the Public Procurement Act, bidders for public contracts are bound to follow Due Process except where a waiver is first obtained under the Act Now, companies have been reported to be conniving with some unscrupulous public officers to corner most of the contracts on offer without Due Process. The allegation that some of the companies use fake tax certificates is, in itself, criminal in nature. If proved to be true, it should attract the maximum punishment prescribed by law.
Nigeria’s continuous high ranking on the corruption index has much to do with abuse of procurement regulations. This includes the offering, giving, receiving and soliciting of anything of value to influence the action of a public official in the procurement process or in contract execution.
If the crusade against corruption is to be effective, the provisions of the Procurement Act must be strictly enforced. For instance, it is necessary to ensure that there is no conflict of interest such as in situations where a person has a direct or indirect interest in, or relationship with a bidder for a contract. Or, where a person for his personal benefit, discloses to unauthorised persons, confidential information belonging to the procurement agency, or a bidder. These two scenarios have become commonplace in procurement units of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) at all tiers of government. The result is that corruption has become entrenched in government institutions, while the aims of ensuring due process, transparency, accountability, fairness, economy and consistency are defeated.
Government should strengthen the relevant anti-graft laws. All over the world, governments use public procurement laws to address a number of issues, including budget implementation and service delivery. We believe that it is for this reason that the Federal Government established the National Council on Public Procurement (NCPP) and the Bureau of Public Procurement(BPP). However, it appears that the two agencies have been unable to ensure that bidders for public contracts do not subvert due process. The government needs to do more to ensure proper monitoring and oversight of public procurement activities. It has become necessary to harmonize existing policies and practices by regulating, standardizing and developing legal framework for procurement. The firms that were found to have violated procurement laws might have cashed in on lax enforcement of extant regulations.
Henceforth, we advise that procurement plans should be closely coordinated with the budget departments of each procuring entity to ensure that funds for procurement are provided for in the budget. Also,it has become necessary to indicate the appropriate procurement methods for each project to avoid “contract splitting”.
Overall, the government must continuously update procurement laws and ensure that they are obeyed to the letter in the best interest of the country.
culled the sun
He confirmed that there had been flagrant abuse of Due Process and Public Procurement laws.Under the Public Procurement Act 2007, Due Process is supposed to be followed in the award of contracts to ensure that government gets Value for Money (VfM) in its procurement activities.
It is sad and disconcerting that the extant laws on procurement and due process are being subverted at will by companies. The ICPC will need to diligently prosecute the offending firms.
Laws are relevant only when they are enforced and obeyed. It must be stated that under the Public Procurement Act, bidders for public contracts are bound to follow Due Process except where a waiver is first obtained under the Act Now, companies have been reported to be conniving with some unscrupulous public officers to corner most of the contracts on offer without Due Process. The allegation that some of the companies use fake tax certificates is, in itself, criminal in nature. If proved to be true, it should attract the maximum punishment prescribed by law.
Nigeria’s continuous high ranking on the corruption index has much to do with abuse of procurement regulations. This includes the offering, giving, receiving and soliciting of anything of value to influence the action of a public official in the procurement process or in contract execution.
If the crusade against corruption is to be effective, the provisions of the Procurement Act must be strictly enforced. For instance, it is necessary to ensure that there is no conflict of interest such as in situations where a person has a direct or indirect interest in, or relationship with a bidder for a contract. Or, where a person for his personal benefit, discloses to unauthorised persons, confidential information belonging to the procurement agency, or a bidder. These two scenarios have become commonplace in procurement units of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) at all tiers of government. The result is that corruption has become entrenched in government institutions, while the aims of ensuring due process, transparency, accountability, fairness, economy and consistency are defeated.
Government should strengthen the relevant anti-graft laws. All over the world, governments use public procurement laws to address a number of issues, including budget implementation and service delivery. We believe that it is for this reason that the Federal Government established the National Council on Public Procurement (NCPP) and the Bureau of Public Procurement(BPP). However, it appears that the two agencies have been unable to ensure that bidders for public contracts do not subvert due process. The government needs to do more to ensure proper monitoring and oversight of public procurement activities. It has become necessary to harmonize existing policies and practices by regulating, standardizing and developing legal framework for procurement. The firms that were found to have violated procurement laws might have cashed in on lax enforcement of extant regulations.
Henceforth, we advise that procurement plans should be closely coordinated with the budget departments of each procuring entity to ensure that funds for procurement are provided for in the budget. Also,it has become necessary to indicate the appropriate procurement methods for each project to avoid “contract splitting”.
Overall, the government must continuously update procurement laws and ensure that they are obeyed to the letter in the best interest of the country.
culled the sun
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