By Abimbola Akosile
Lagos — Analysts have identified the public sector as the greatest source
of corruption in Nigeria, and public procurement as the top channel
through, which public funds are diverted and converted into private use.
However, there is an ongoing process, being coordinated by the Public and
Private Development Centre (PPDC), a non-governmental organisation; which
seeks to plug such corrupt loopholes.
Procurement Scenario
The latest official update on public procurement process in Nigeria is
that, in line with the Public Procurement Act of 2007, the Bureau of
Public Procurement (BPP), one of the coordinating bodies for public
spending in Nigeria, is currently collating procurement plans for
uploading on their websites where they can be accessed by Ministries,
Departments, and Agencies (MDAs)
Meanwhile as that is going on at BPP, official looting and siphoning of
public funds, through inflation of government contracts and bogus
contracts for white elephant projects, continue unabated.
Seeing billions of naira being subtly pocketed through official processes
is no laughing matter. All one has to do is to picture what a billion
naira can do in the lives of thousands of villagers or hundreds of angry
youths and jobless graduates, to appreciate the need for a definite check
on the drain of national revenue and public resources.
This is the reason why a plan by PPDC to establish a public procurement
portal where any and every stakeholder can access information on public
spending in any sector, is both timely and necessary for national growth
and development.
This is one of the sub-themes under the Nigerian Procurement Monitoring
Project designed by PPDC, and now supported by UNDEF, according to the
organisation's coordinator, Mr. Chibuzor Ekekwuo.
Background Check
The role of governments all over the world is to provide for the welfare,
peace and security of the citizens. It is for this reason that section
14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
provides that "the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary
purpose of government."
Governance, according to PPDC, envisages the management of public,
material and human resources for the common good. Good and effective
governance therefore is dependent upon the workings of institutions
charged with the delivery of public good, services and the guarantee of
public security.
Public procurement is a very important aspect of the delivery of public
goods and services. Virtually every business of government is conducted
through a procurement process. Where the process of procurement is
unregulated and ineffective, it affects socio-economic and human
development as public services and projects which give support to human
existence and activities will be lacking.
The periods before and immediately after the return to democratic
governance witnessed great challenges in the implementation of policies
especially the planning and execution of government contracts, the
organisation explained. To Ekekwuo, the absence of institutional, legal
and regulatory frameworks regulating public procurement led to massive
corruption, abandonment of public projects and works leading to the loss
of revenues for government, waste and infrastructural decadence.
In order to arrest this ugly trend, governments at Federal and State
levels embarked upon various legal and institutional reforms to improve
governance, economic development and the delivery of public goods and
services to the citizens. These reforms led to the passage and signing
into law of the Public Procurement Act (the Act) in June 2007.
The Act establishes the "National Council on Public Procurement and the
Bureau of Public Procurement as the regulatory authorities responsible for
the monitoring and oversight of public procurement, harmonizing the
existing government policies and practices by regulating, setting
standards and developing the legal framework and professional capacity for
public procurement in Nigeria and for related matters."
Vital Visit
On January 27, Ekekwuo and his team paid an advocacy visit to the House of
Representatives Committee on Due Process, led by Hon Maitama Tugar, at the
National Assembly Complex in Abuja.
The advocacy visit was by a delegation of CSO members led by Public &
Private Development Centre (PPDC) and representation from Crime Free and
Peace Initiative (CRIPFI), Zero Corruption Coalition (ZCC), and National
Procurement Watch Platform (NPWP).
In an address he presented to the legislators, the lawyer cum civil
society practitioner sought to explain the rationale for PPDC's persistent
quest for transparency and accountability in the public procurement
process in Nigeria, and the need to check any sharp practices by public
officials.
"Our goal in PPDC is to improve citizen participation in governance in a
way that supports improved integrity and prevents corruption in Nigeria.
Our visit is intended to present to the House Committee on Due Process the
full concept of our United Nations Development Fund UNDEF Supported
Nigerian Procurement Monitoring Project;
According to Ekekwuo, "There is no doubt that corruption is a major cause
of poverty, and no sector bears the risk for corruption more than the
Procurement Sector in Nigeria. Public procurement is a key aspect of
delivery of social services and by extension, socio-economic development.
This explains why our country embarked on Procurement Reforms;
After the passage of the Public Procurement Act 2007, PPDC designed and
launched its Procurement Watch Programme, which sought to activate the
citizens monitoring provisions in that law. The programme, he said, soon
secured support from PACT Nigeria ADVANCE programme and achieved some
outputs.
These included the formation of the National Procurement Watch Platform
along with many other CSO actors; publication of the first guide for
procurement Observers called Non State Actors and Procurement Watch in
Nigeria; an assessment of levels of implementation of Procurement Act
2007.
Others are that the programme trained the first set of citizens
procurement monitors under the Public Procurement Act 2007; the Platform
produced a Code of Conduct for civil society procurement observers, which
was approved and published by the Bureau for Public Procurement; and the
Platform also designed and produced a checklist for procurement
observation reports.
The programme, he said, activated organised CSO engagement of relevant
public bodies for purposes of procurement observation, and actual
observation of Procurement by CSO's and some professional bodies in
Nigeria.
Monitoring Challenges
Ekekwuo said his organisation discovered many challenges, as it watched
CSO and Professional bodies get invited and monitor the procurement
exercise. "Few CSOs have technical knowledge, skills and resources
required to monitor procurement, there is a concentration of few NGOs with
capacity in and around Abuja", he explained.
"Despite the access to information provisions of the Act, levels of access
to information and access to procurement proceedings remains limited,
partly because of resistance within procuring entities and partly because
CSOs and professional bodies are yet to assert the full measure of the
provisions of the Act", he added.
Procurement Project
The identified challenges and current scenario led to PPDC designing the
Nigerian Procurement Monitoring Project now supported by UNDEF.
The Nigerian Procurement Monitoring Project has four major objectives to
build capacity of non state actors on procurement observation and
monitoring; strengthen the legislature on procurement oversight and
monitoring; improve access, analyses and sharing of procurement
information; strengthen advocacy for improved transparency and
accountability in the procurement process.
The programme is geared to establish an independent procurement monitoring
mechanism for Nigeria. The strategy and activities will include capacity
building; building partnerships; documentation and research; and design
and deployment of ICT tool called Procurement Observatory.
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