The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) on Monday, said it has forwarded names of public servants engaged in the violation of the 2007 Public Procurement Act, as amended to the Code of Conduct Bureau CCB for necessary actions.

Adebowale Adedokun, Director General of the BPP revealed this on Monday, as he promised to sanitize the procurement agency, adding that ?it will no longer be business as usual?.

He disclosed that this is the first time in the history of the organization that the agencies will forward list of such violators to the CCB, adding that ?Our is to send the report.

Adedokun, while briefing Journalists in Abuja, vowed to ensure that there will be strict compliance with the public procurement Act as amended.

?Blames MDAs for high cost of contracts in Nigeria

Speaking on the high cost of contracts in Nigeria, the new BPP DG, blamed heads of the federal government?s Ministries, Departments and Agencies MDAs, who wait until the end of the year, to commence procurement process.

?As we speak, I have a huge number of requests at my table and I am going to report none- compliance, because they ought to have began this process as soon as the President signs the budget? Instead, they will wait until the end of the year so they can pile pressures on the system?

?Right now, we are auditing all the MDAs and I will report none compliance.?

Adedokun said Nigerians should await dramatic changes to the nation?s procurement process, adding that when the process is right, the nation would have solved over 70% of the corruption in the country

?We will be providing regular figures, share reports with the EFCC, ICPC and other agencies and for the first time, I am sharing reports on public servants who are directly involved in public procurement with the CCB and it is their responsibility to prosecute based on their powers,? he added.

Speaking on the plans to amend the BPP Act, Adedokun stated that the President has instituted an inter agency committee to work on the amended which will pave the way for the establishment of the National Council on Public Procurement NCP

?We have identified some anomalies in the BPP 2007 Act and we are working on it. The President is passionate about the ongoing reforms and wants to see that the NCP is established

?We can only reduce high cost of projects if you use open competitive bidding.

?We will ensure that Nigeria gets values. We have set up price intelligence team that will be giving us reasonable price range.

?We are also working on reducing the project implementation cycle. All MDAs must comply with our time lines. We expect that the first four months at the beginning of the year will be used to process all procurements, while the remaining period is used to execute the projects. We will monitor and report delays?

He also assured that the Agency will ensure inclusivity by creating opportunities for women, youth, and persons living with disabilities to participate in public contracts.

Adedokun said the BPP was working on community-based procurement initiatives to stimulate local economies.

Another action lined up include supporting sector-based procurement strategies tailored to specific industries and supporting local businesses and MSMEs to stimulate economic growth and create jobs.

?We will enhance Monitoring and Evaluation, strengthen our oversight functions by Implementing categorisation and classification systems for contractors and consultants, conducting procurement audits and provided periodic reports to the Presidency and creating preventive and reactive measures aimed to build public confidence and foster a culture of accountability across all public procurement entities.

?We will ensure that all the MDAs submit monthly reports on contracts awarded to the BPP and publish them on the BPP and procuring entity?s websites, as well as create zonal/state offices and call centres to improve service delivery and stakeholder engagement.

Speaking further on cost reduction, Adedokun, assured that the agency will embark on Price Intelligence and benchmarking.

The BPP, he said will review and update benchmarks to align with prevailing policies and practices, identify best practices in supplier selection and contract negotiation and provide opportunities for training programs to improve procurement professionals? understanding of benchmarking concepts. (Courtesy, excluding headline, BusinessDay)

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