BPP tasks permanent secretaries on transparency, procurement reforms

Director-general of Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mamman Ahmadu, has tasked permanent secretaries (PSs) and other stakeholders in the procurement process to ensure transparency and accountability in carrying out their responsibilities.

Speaking at the ninth Annual Public Procurement Retreat for Federal Permanent Secretaries, held in Lagos at the weekend, Ahmadu said   the timing of the exercise was apt, as the consistency of the forum had improved Public Procurement process, and led to better public funds expenditure pattern and budget implementation in Nigeria.

The programme is an opportunity to bring all participants on the same page in the implementation of the procurement reform programme, he said, saying subsequent retreats will be for the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of parastatals and the directorate cadre in the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

“To ensure the success of the procurement reform, the BPP is, in line with global best practices, embarking on new sustainable public procurement initiatives. For instance, the National Open Contracting Portal (NOCOPO), the global award winning initiative, which further emphasise the need for transparency, competition and level playing field among contractors, consultants and service providers, has placed Nigeria among the best public procurement regulators in the world,” he said.

He said while the national upgrade, a version 2 of the Contractors, Consultants and Service Providers (CCSP) was ongoing, the Price-Checker platform, which harmonises prices of items, was also in progress.

The BPP currently runs Research Centres at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, and the University of Lagos, among others, to boost capacity for key stakeholders in the public procurement practice, he disclosed.

He urged the Federal Government to institutionalise the National Conference on Public Procurement (NACOPP) so as to provide a regular forum for advancing the course of procurement reform nationwide.

With support from the BPP and international development agencies, 25 states have so far established their procurement regulatory agencies to enable the agency continually meet emerging challenges, he said.

The BPP remains committed to working with PSs to ensure that success is continually achieved in the Nigeria procurement system.

He said the yearly retreat helps BPP to take stock of progress in the reform and, most importantly, discuss the actions needed for budget implementation in the area of Public Procurement.  He reiterated the key roles being played by Permanent Secretaries, who he sees as the Accounting Officers, in the implementation of the public procurement reform.

He said: “Federal Permanent Secretaries are recognised as the Accounting Officers in the Ministries under Section 20, Sub-Section 1 of the Public Procurement Act 2007 (PPA, 2007).

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This places them at the heart of the procurement process. They take responsibility for ensuring the compliance of MDAs with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007,” he said.

He commended the attendance of the different representatives from the Federal Ministries and BPP’s counterparts from the states, despite their very tight schedules.

Speaking also, Winifred Oyo-Ita, Head Civil Service of the Federation, said the retreat had continually helped the participants in executing annual budgets with ease and their public procurement knowledge.

She said the implementation of the implementation of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, was a call to probity, accountability, competition, value for money and quality in the expenditure of public funds.

Public funds are tailored towards the realisation of key objectives of government, such as provision of utilities and infrastructure for the people, she said.