…Urges inauguration of Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria
By Chimezie Godfrey
In order to tackle the menace of procurement corruption which constitutes over 70% of the total corruption in Nigeria, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in collaboration with anti-corruption agencies, and other stakeholders have urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to as a matter of urgency constitute and inaugurate the National Council for Public Procurement.
The CSOs also called for the inauguration of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria, CIPSMN enhance the fight against Procurement Corruption in the country.
The demands were contained in a Communique jointly signed by Prof Ismaila Mande, National Univeristy of Nigeria; Wisdom Olisa, NGO Network; and Victor Enejuire, Centre for Social Justice, issued as the outcome of
a one-day Roundtable on “CSOs Strategic Alliance and Think-tank Against Public Procurement Corruption in Nigeria held on Thursday August 24th, 2023 in Abuja.
The Roundtable was hosted by the Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative (PRADIN), in collaboration with Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) and Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ).
The theme of the event was “Tackling High Level Corruption in Public Procurement”
Participants were drawn from key stakeholder made up of Regulators, Implementers and Monitors which include the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Economics and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Strategy Implementation Office of the Presidential Executive Order 5.
The Communique reveaveled that inadequate monitoring and prevention of frauds in procurement of goods, works and services are accountable for over 70% total corruption in the public sector as researched by NGO Network since the year 2010.
It observed that the failure of successive Governments of President Musa Yar’Adua through to President Muhammed Buhari to inaugurate the National Council for Public Procurement, NCPP, is a major setback in the fight against corruption as it renders most procurement activities illegal.
According to it the non-compliance with some provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007 has created lack of professionalism in the management and application of efficient procurement practice, in Nigeria
It also pointed out that lack of adequate and sustained synergy between Government, CSOs and Professional bodies, is one major reason Corruption cases are on the rise daily despite huge investment by the Government and the people.
It added that the absence of bi-annual PROCUREMENT AUDIT of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs since 2007 to date is a major window for corruption and excesses recorded in the system.
It therefore recommended that the Government of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu should, without further delay, constitute and inaugurate the National Council for Public Procurement and that of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria, CIPSMN, among other strategic moves to tackle the challenge of procurement corruption in the country.
It stated,”On the basis of the above observations, the participants therefore resolved as follows:
“That the Government of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu should, without further delay, constitute and inaugurate the National Council for Public Procurement and that of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria, CIPSMN as contained in Part 1 Section 1 of the two extant loss Laws to enhance the fight against Procurement Corruption in the face of rising high profile cases in the country.
“That the inauguration of the NCPP and compliance with Sections 5 17 and 55 of the Public Procurement Act 2007 will ensure professionalism in the management and application of efficient procurement practice that will help in reducing corruption to its lowest minimum.
“That the Procurement Corruption which account for the larger parts of Corruption as identified in previous research by CSOs as well as the Roundtable is as serious concerns to all the participants, and therefore resolved to engage new strategies by all stakeholder to tackle the phenomenon.
“That an enhanced partnership between Government, particularly the Anti-corruption Agencies, CSOs and Professional Bodies will help greater in the prevention of and fight against Procurement Corruption in Nigeria.”
The Communique stated that participants at the Roundtable expressed their appreciation and commended the organizer of the event and called for more synergy, collaboration and partnership in the fight against misprocurement to reduce high level of corruption in the public sector.
It added that participants also called on the Legislators in the 10th Assembly to be alert and take note of the issues around procurement corruption to assist them in their oversight functions
According to it, the organizers thanked the ICPC, EFCC, BPSR, SITOPE, CIPSMN, the Academia as well as CSOs and the Media in attendance for their commitment and the call for sustained Collaboration in this cause.
