The Nation Newspaper

Tag: BPP

  • Due Process hampered by judgments’ delays – BPP

    The Director General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP),  Emeka Ezeh, on Monday raised alarm that long delay of court processes is working against the agency in carrying out its statutory functions.

    He made the remark while receiving the National President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Augustine Alegeh, who led a delegation of its national officers on courtesy call to the bureau.

    To date, he said the Bureau has got only two court judgments, which were in its favour.

    According to him, some lawyers still lack good knowledge of the Procurement Act.

    He also informed the gathering that any contractor who fails to register and is not captured in its database will not be allowed to do business with the government from 2015.

    He said: “Long delays in court processes are not helping in deepening procurement processes. The two court judgments we have gotten so far have been in our favour.”

    “We have been frustrated by the judiciary at times. Many lawyers are not aware of the BPP Act. That is why we distributed 10, 000 copies of the Act to lawyers and judges at one of the NBA conferences.”

    “We need sector-specific lawyers because of low-level awareness of the BPP Act among lawyers. We observe that some senior lawyers get beaten by younger, smarter lawyers who have deeply studied the Act. “

    Ezeh said that since 2007 to date, BPP has been able to save N500 billion for the government as the difference between what was applied for by the Ministries, Department and Agencies and what was approved.

     

  • BPP saves N5.5b in three months

    The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) said it saved for the country N5.5 billion in three months following its review of cost of various projects undertaken by the Federal Government.
    The bureau said the review was undertaken between October and December, 2013.
    This was contained in the bureau’s 2013 Last Quarter Report on Public Procurement released on Wednesday in Abuja.
    The report also showed that about 50 projects were approved by the Federal Executive Council during the period.
    The reports signed by the Bureau’s Head of Public Relations, Mr. Thomas Odemwingie, indicated that the projects were for the rehabilitation of roads, construction of houses, training services and procurement of equipment.
    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a breakdown of the figure showed that the total project cost as requested by MDAs during the period stood at over N85.45 billion which was reviewed down by the BPP to slightly over N79.93 billion.
    “This showed a marked difference of N5.5 billion as money saved from the cost projected by the MDAs and what was approved by the BBP.”
    According to the report, the contracts were to be implemented through the Ministries of Defence, Works, Power, Transport, Niger Delta and Petroleum Resources.
    Others were the State House, National Emergency Management Agency, National Population Commission, and the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

  • Govt orders contractors, others to register on e-platform, BPP

    Govt orders contractors, others to register on e-platform, BPP

    The Federal Government has warned that contractors, suppliers and consultants that fail to registration on the database of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) would be excluded from government contracts and may be jailed.

    The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, made this known at the 2014 annual contractors/consultants and service providers forum in Abuja, yesterday.

    Represented by a Director in the Office of the Solicitor-General of the Federation, Mrs. Olusola Moore, the Minister said: “The essence of the provisions of the law is to stress the need for relevant stakeholders to get registered under the e-platform in order to guarantee the continued participation of their companies in federal procurement.”

    Also speaking at the occasion, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Ayim Pius Ayim, who was also represented by the Permanent Secretary, Economic Matters, Abubarkar Magaji, said the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offence Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), are currently investigating cases of infractions which include, collusion amongst bidders, use of fake documents, false claims by contractors and suppliers, and manipulation of the procurement process.

    He therefore urged contractors, consultants and suppliers to prevail on all their “staff involved in the public procurement process to conduct themselves with the highest sense of responsibility, accountability, ethics and integrity.”

    Violators of the new policy, he said, “shall have their names listed in the list of firms and persons that have been barred from participating in Public procurement activities.”
    Earlier in his address, the Director General of the BPP Engr. Emeka Ezeh stated that the forum is designed by the Bureau of Public Procurement to sanitize the process of bidding for Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies which has received the endorsement of the Federal Government.
    BPP is currently registering contractors, consultants and service providers doing, or intending to do, business with Federal Government agencies with a view to classifying them according to their sizes and competencies.

  • 2014 budget: Fed Govt swears in procurement officers

    2014 budget: Fed Govt swears in procurement officers

    The Bureau of Public procurement (BPP) administered yesterday the oath of allegiance on procurement officers ahead of the implementation of this year’s budget.

    The ceremony was held at the new State House auditorium in Abuja.

    BPP’s Director-General, Emeka Ezeh, who also took the oath, said the bureau discovered some wrongdoings among procurement officers.

    This, he said had given the government a bad image.

    Eze said the oath was aimed at correcting the wrongdoings and to ensure prudent spending of the 2014 budget.

    According to him, the implementation of the budget will be challenging because of the fall in revenue.

    He said: “It is in the interest of this country that the budget is implemented. And the action or inaction will go a long way in ensuring the smooth implementation of the budget. In as much as we want the budget implemented 100 per cent – and the laws should be obeyed – that is why we have invited procurement officers, who are key to the budget implementation.

    “We have made history today by administering oath of allegiance on procurement officers. This is the number one step to prick their conscience. Of course, you know procurement officers are constantly under monitoring by security agencies to be sure that people who really live above their income are interrogated.

     

  • BPP saves N95.79 bn

    The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) said it saved N95.79 billion for the Federal Government in 2013 through its project review process.

    The bureau disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja over the weekend.

    The statement by BPP Public Relations Officer, Mr Tommy Odemwingie, said the BPP Director-General, Mr Emeka Ezeh, gave the figure while receiving a delegation from the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV).

    The statement quoted Ezeh as saying that the amount was the total amount the bureau saved for the country in the four quarter of 2013.

    It said that in a country where expectations of service delivery were high, “the saved amount could boost infrastructure provision in critical sectors like education, energy and health”.

    It explained that BPP was able to save the money for the country in the discharge of its responsibility of regulating the process of public procurement to ensure that contract awards were transparent and competitive.

    The statement said that President of NIESV, Mr Emeka Eleh, commended BPP for transforming public procurement process in the country.

    It said that Eleh solicited the support of the bureau to NIESV in ensuring that non-registered estate surveyors and valuers in the country were excluded from functioning as facility managers and estate agents.

    Eleh also appealed to the bureau to accept personal income tax certificates from surveyors and valuers in place of company tax clearance certificates for procurement of contracts.

  • BPP saves N58b from contract review

    BPP saves N58b from contract review

    The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) last year saved about N58 billion through its review of contracts for capital projects, its Director-General, Emeka Ezeh, has said.

    Ezeh, who spoke over the weekend at the yearly retreat for Federal Permanent Secretaries in Lagos, said the savings arose from its successful review of 184 contracts across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government.

    He explained that under the Public Procurement Act, 2007 that set up BPP, Permanent Secretaries are the accounting officers of MDAs, and are therefore critical to the implementation of the on-going reform of the public procurement system, which has seen the Bureau take charge of the mobility of the procurement officer cadre of the Federal Civil Service.

    The BPP boss acknowledged the oversight role of the National Assembly, which he said, has kept the Bureau on its toes.

    He also appreciated the support from the Presidency, through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, in getting MDAs to comply with the Act in their procurement.

    At the retreat, which was declared open by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Bukar Goni Aji, participants reviewed the challenges associated with last year’s procurement; provide update on National Database of Federal Contractors and obtained commitments on the way forward; to provide overview of the procurement review software; review challenges associated with the procurement cadre and determine how best to accelerate Budget implementation and improve Budget performance in the year.

    The participants also included 41 Permanent Secretaries, the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Auditor-General of the Federation, Surveyor-General of the Federation and heads of other agencies.

    Aji said the success of many of the initiatives in service delivery would depend on the ability of the Permanent Secretaries to interpret government policies that will transform into programmes and projects that will improve the welfare of the people.

  • Is anti-graft war on course?

    Is anti-graft war on course?

    House of Representatives Speaker Hon. Aminu Tambuwal has alleged that President Goodluck Jonathan is not committed to the anti-corruption battle. In this piece, VICTOR OLUWASEGUN and DELE ANOFI examine the circumstances that led to the public outburst and its implications for the executive/legislative relations.

    When House of Representatives Speaker Hon. Aminu Tambuwal dropped the bombshell, many Nigerians were taken aback. The number four citizen dissected the polity, saying that the anti-corruption battle was not on course. In his view, President Goodluck Jonathan has not shown enough commitment to the crusade against graft.

    The Speaker attempted to substantiate his allegation. After presenting a paper at a one-day roundtable marking the International Anti-corruption Day by the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Tambuwal objected to the manner the President handled the pension fraud, the N255million bullet proof car scandal, and the alleged fraud in the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC). He said President Jonathan is encouraging corruption by his reluctance to promptly address the high profile corruption unearthed by the legislature.

    It was the first time the Speaker would speak against the administration in the public. While some people hailed him for his boldness, others said that his remarks were a brazen assault on the Presidency.

    However, barely a week after, former President Olusegun Obasanjo also wrote a letter to the President, accusing his administration of corruption.

    Few days after the Abuja outburst, Tambuwal dropped another bombshell during the inauguration of the House Ad-hoc Committee on Oil Theft at the National Assembly. He accused the Federal Government of complicity in oil theft, adding that N750 billion was being lost annually. Also, in his letter, Obasanjo alluded to the same crime, urging the President to halt the trend.

    Tambuwal has been a moderating factor in the House of Representatives, although he is largely portrayed as a friend of the opposition. Many believe that, as a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, he has been instrumental to the maintenance of a reasonable equilibrium in favour of the President in the House. Therefore, some said that he has a moral burden to refrain from washing the dirty linen of the government in the public.

    However, many legislators supported the Speaker’s approach. They said that Tambuwal’s outburst was borne out of the passive attitude of the executive to the legislative resolutions on corruption.

    Many legislators have expressed concern over the way the Presidency handled the allegations against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) headed by Ms. Arumah Oteh. The matter led to frosty relationship between the two arms of government. The investigation by the Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Herman Hembe, went awry when he was accused of fraud by the Director-General. Eventually, the resolution by the House that the Oteh should be removed and the suggestion that the SEC should be excluded from the budget were ignored by the President.

    Also, the punitive recommendation by the House against the Minister of Aviation over the allegation of N255 million bullet proof car fraud was ignored by the President, who set up an administrative committee to look into the matter.

    Tambuwal frowned at the way the fuel subsidy probe was also handled by the President. He said many of the recommendations were not implemented, based on the fact that the probe was discredited by the bribe- for- clearance allegation against the Ad hoc Chairman, Hon. Farouk Lawan. The House was of the opinion that, in spite of the allegation, the recommendation, if implemented to the letter, would have cleansed the petroleum sector

    Tambuwal’s warning did not start overnight. On Jan 6, he had warned the Executive against corruption while speaking on the amendment of the constitution. The Speaker had sent a clear signal to the Executive and the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), saying that the House would not condone a situation where few people feed fat on the wealth of the nation and majority of Nigerians wallow in abject poverty. He said the House will monitor step the MDAs and ensure that the national wealth is judiciously used by them.

    The Speaker said: “We are convinced now more than ever before, that a situation where the majority of the citizens continue to live in abject poverty while an insignificant minority corner the commonwealth is not only unjust, but unacceptable.

    “In this regard, we shall continue to adopt a pragmatic and functional approach to ensure that the war against corruption is removed from the realm of rhetoric by exercising absolute diligence in our oversight function to enhance transparency and accountability in both high and low strata.

    In November last year, the House raised an alarm over the non-remittance of N4 trillion by 60 MDAs indicted by the House panel report. The Nigerian National Petroleum Commission (NNPC) was summoned to explain $7bn missing crude oil funds. Also, Alhaji Rilwan Lukman and Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke were asked to appear before the investigative committee. The position of the Executive has always been that funds were not missing.

    Sequel to reports by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (AGF) over the non-remittance of over N4 trillion by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for the 2009 fiscal year, the House summoned the Minister of Petroleum Resources and past chairmen and members of the Board of the NNPC. They are among 60 MDAs investigated by the Public Accounts Committee headed by Solomon Adeola.

    Adeola said that a comprehensive probe into the operation of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is underway. He alleged that the company has not remitted any revenue into the government coffers for seven years.

    “On the issue of the LNG, you will agree with me that the only thing that constitutes revenue today, apart from taxes, is oil. The LNG has been on for over six to seven years and they’re not privatised and we’ve not even heard from them”, he said.

    The House also supported the Senate’s call for the sack of the Chairman of the Pension Task Force Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, over pension fraud and corruption. It ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, to appear before its committee on Police Affairs to explain why he did not act on the warrant issued by the Senate. But it was later alleged that the Presidency was shielding Maina.

    In March, the legislators, through a motion moved by the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Hon. Bimbo Daramola, agreed that the immunity granted the former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, “was not well thought out.”

    On July 28, the House Committee on Anti-Corruption, National Ethics and Values resolved to investigate the Ministry of Aviation over the award of contracts running into billions of naira. The committee alleged that the contract money was paid for jobs not executed. Its Chairman, Abiodun Faleke, said the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) and the Ministry of Works would be investigated for breaching the Public Procurement Act.

    He said: “The impunity with which we do things in this country is appalling, like the abuse of ‘No Objection Certificate’ given by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). All agencies are using this loophole to issue contracts of over N20b without advertising them, once they write to the BPP that allows for selective tendering.

    “Talking of impunity, during an oversight of MDG projects, we discovered that a canal was conducted in Okrika for over N2billlion. The consultancy fee for the project that was not even in the 2012 budget and not appropriated for was N900m”.

    The House has also criticised the Federal Government for the poor implementation of the budget. In its view, the President only selects and implements some items in the budget.

    The 2014 budget presentation to the National Assembly was aborted by President Jonathan at the last minute, due to the insistence of the House on $79 per barrel.

    However, the public has always had the impression that the face off between the House and the Presidency is related to the manner in which the Speaker emerged in 2011 against the will and zoning formula of the PDP. But, Tambuwal is of the opinion that the House was living up to its vision, which is “ pursue an aggressive legislative agenda to reposition itself as a key branch of government, able and determined to deliver on the key elements of governance”.

    A legislator, who craved for anonymity, said that “that is why the House frowns when the Executive says that its resolutions are mere advice”. But another legislator said: “Tambuwal is only playing to the gallery by attacking the President in order to gain favour from the opposition in the House”.

  • FMoW in mother of all variations

    Since we are talking about a road, Hardball posits that what has happened is an equivalence of a horrific carnage. Unless of course you are one of the big men in the Federal Ministry of Works (FMoW), the news of that contract variation is bound to make you dizzy. The sheer impunity of the figures is sure to twist your innards to the extreme. You grow instantly impotent as rage takes over your sinews. In your extreme agony, you would probably curse the day you were conceived under the green and white flag, which seems to flutter with so much infamy these days.

    Contract variation, it must be noted, has become something of a norm in Nigeria since the 80s and most ministries at all levels of government may have adopted this phenomenon as the proper course of doing business. In deed, Hardball would stand to be corrected that any contract that did not ‘enjoy’ a variation especially in the FMoW in the last two decades would be an exception. It would be strangely extra-normal in Nigeria today if any contract is carried out from start to finish and on schedule without any variation of the contract sum. But this case in point of the variation of the Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja Road contract must be the mother of them all. Hardball takes the liberty to term it a ‘terror’ attack of sort on the psyche of the nation.

    The FMoW has bent over double trying to explain this monstrous action since the Senate Adhoc Committee ‘uncovered’ it but no explanation would fly. An initial contract sum of N42.55 billion in 2006 was in 2011 ballooned up to N116 billion and they expect us not to cry our eyes out? They say an inter-ministerial committee approved it; they say the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) issued certificate of ‘No Objection’ – whatever that means. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved and sanctioned the variation. But of what use are all these aforementioned vetting processes? Did they not approve the first contract which turned out a disaster?

    The FWoW ought to hide its head in the muck for seeming to be proud to have initiated and awarded a contract that five years down the line, had to be varied by about 300 per cent. What this means is that no planning whatsoever was carried out. Officials of the FWoW are indignantly suggesting that critics are ignorant of the enlarged scope of work built into the reviewed project but they play down the fact that more that 62 per cent (or N26.63 billion) of the initial contract sum was disbursed. And what value did we get from this? Only 38 per cent. If we add the initial disbursal of N26.63 billion to the current N116 billion we have a total sum of N142. 63 billion to be spent on this singular road project.

    No explanation will justify this manner of project review, especially if we consider the antecedence of our public service; a service steeped in corrupt practices and a recent unremitting brand of impunity. Another point to be made is that we could count it as ‘all is well that ends well’ if the FWoW manages to deliver this road next year as proposed. We will also live with this grim assault on our psyche if the road, upon completion, stands the rest of time. But Hardball will wager again that this road will not be completed in 2014 and may well be reviewed and re-awarded someday in our usual tradition, especially if it remains unfinished in the life of this administration.

    Hardball wishes the FMoW would do Nigerians a little favour by helping us with a list of reviewed contracts; a list of uncompleted/abandoned contracts; a list of reviewed yet unfinished projects in just one ministry.

    It is sad that our public service has become one huge, kleptocratic, revenue-crunching machine. But a man who steals his patrimony is only clever by half isn’t he?

  • ‘Over 50 firms to be prosecuted for presenting false documents’

    ‘Over 50 firms to be prosecuted for presenting false documents’

    The Director-General of the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP), Emeka Ezeh, yesterday said the names of over 50 companies have been forwarded to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for investigation and possible prosecution for a presenting false documents to get contracts.

    Eze addressed reporters in Abuja after signing an agreement with the United Nations (UN) Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

    He said: “On Friday (November 8), I signed off another letter to the EFCC and ICPC, listing over 50 companies that tried to get government jobs through the use of forged documents, because the use of fake document is a crime.

    “Some people make false claims about their capacity. They are the people who shout the greatest and who don’t even know what a cubic metre of concrete is. They will quote either ridiculously low. Then, when they don’t get the job, they begin to shout on top of their roofs.”

     

  • Reps’ committee visits BPP

    Reps’ committee visits BPP

    The House of Representatives’ committee probing the two armoured cars’ scandal, led by Nkiruka Onyejeocha, yesterday visited the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).

    In her submission last week, Ms Oduah insisted that the purchase went through due process.

    According to her, the NCAA also followed due process because the BPP did not have guidelines on auto lease financing.

    “We have always acted in a prudent manner,” she said.

    But the committee’s visit to the BPP was hinged on the testimony that the NCAA and the minister breached procurement laws in the purchase of the armoured cars.

    The NCAA could not provide authorisation for the purchase of the vehicles, as it was shown that there was no correspondence between the agency and the BPP on the procurement of the two BMW vehicles.