PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REFORMS: Did you know Govt. was losing US$10B annually to Fraudulent Practices in Award and Execution of Govt contracts?

Problem: As at 1999, 60k out of every ₦1.00 spent by government was being lost to underhand practices. Government was losing US$10 billion annually due to fraudulent practices in the award and execution of government contracts.

Reform Actions:
- Establishment of the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (BMPIU) in 2003 
- Enactment of the Public Procurement Act 2007 

Establishment of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to take over the functions of the BMPIU.
- Publication of Public Tenders Journal 
- Establishment of Procurement Cadre 

• Main Achievements: The procurement reforms have saved the government more than ₦618 billion since 2007. The Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007 has led to effective regulation of public procurement, harmonisation of existing government policies and practices on procurement, and the setting of common procurement standards. It has provided a clear procurement process that is not subject to varying interpretation. There is reduction in cost of governance and corruption in procurement. The promotion of an open tender process with competitive bidding for government contracts has provided a level playing field to bidders. 24 states have so far passed their own versions of the procurement laws and there are continuous capacity building programmes and hands on skills training for procurement officers and non-state actors.
  
  Key Challenges: (a) Mismatch between budgetary provisions and actual releases, which makes procurement planning difficult; (b) contract-splitting is rife and the contract variation process is abused sometimes; (c) there is the unintended delay in the implementation of capital projects caused by procedural requirements; (d) the National Council on Public Procurement (NCPP) has not been constituted, which is contrary to the PPA; (e) there is inadequate funding to sustain capacity building and other reform outcomes; (f) delays remain in the investigation of alleged infractions and in payments of contractors (g) there are abuses of the process through the circumvention of some provisions of the PPA; (h) the weak enforcement of some of the provisions the PPA has created a pervasive culture of non-compliance thereby affecting its effective implementation. The application of sanctions against non-compliance is necessary to serve as an effective deterrent. 
  

Reference:  Public Service Reforms in Nigeria (1999-2014) - A Comprehensive Review

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