By Our Correspondent
A frontline anti-corruption civil society organisation, Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative, PRADIN, has reacted to the series of publications by the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP in national dailies of May 13, 2015 titled: National information and knowledge base on the particulars, classification and categorization of Federal Contractors and Service Provider.
In a 7-page letter addressed to the Director General of the Bureau, and copied to President Muhammadu Buhari, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Transition Committee and some anti-corruption agencies, PRADIN dismissed as untrue, illegal and not in consonance with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007, the statement by the Bureau to the effect that Federal Contractors are categorized on information and knowledge base.
PRADIN pointed out that what the law says as contained in Section 5h and 6 (1) of the Public PPA is that the Bureau shall maintain a ‘Database of the Particulars and Classification and Categorization of Federal Contractors and Service Providers’. The words information and knowledge base are therefore the creation of the Bureau and not as contained in the law guide the operations of the Bureau.
The letter signed dated June 10 and signed by the National Coordinator of PRADIN, Mr. Mohammed Bougei Attah warned that the nation cannot afford another round of misprocurement where contractors and service providers are categorized according to the whims and caprices of some individuals to the disadvantage of majority,a development that is capable of destroying the system by failing to apply the rules as envisaged by the law.
In his words, Attah said “By this letter, we wish to correct certain impression created in the minds of the people drawing inference the to the fact that where there is a presumption in law, that there is no evidence to the contrary, things are presumed to have been rightly and properly done.
Further, the letter stated that “From our record, we have (it) on good authority that this issue was discussed and questioned earlier by concerned stakeholders such as the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (CIPSMN), the body responsible for the knowledge and resource on procurement as well as NGOs to the effect that a Position Paper was presented to your office for note. Despite the warnings of these bodies and strong position on the issue, it appears you or your Bureau is not only defiant and determined to go ahead with this project in spite of the existing challenges and illegalities pointed out to you. We therefore have no doubt in our mind that your intention is to favour certain categories of contractors in the glaring face of illegality. This is high level of impunity that Nigerians and the international community are condemning daily”.
“To demonstrate other indisputable facts, the group maintained, the Public Procurement Act 2007, has categorized contracts into Works, Goods, Non Consultant Services and Consultancy Services. The above categories cannot change unless PPA is amended because it is statutory and will form the basis for preparation of threshold by the Procurement Council. All that BPP is required to do is to maintain a data base of all the contractors in the above categories in their different classes and indicating whether such companies are local or international companies
Thus PRADIN maintained that the BPP is not empowered under Section 6 or anywhere in the PPA to make monetary threshold for contract awards for the companies so classified, but to maintain Data base of the particulars and classification and categorization of Federal contractors and service providers.
It should be understood also that the law does not permit the Bureau in Section 6(1) or 5(h) of PPA to maintain information based on the particulars and classification and categorization of Federal contractors and service providers nor the Knowledge base of the particulars and classification and categorization of Federal contractors and service providers. These are clearly outside the jurisdiction of BPP.
In conclusion, the group drew attention to the fact that there is at the moment, a joint resolution of the 7th National Assembly of Nigeria in May 2014 declaring BPP as an illegal body and called on President Goodluck Jonathan to properly constitute the BPP by inaugurating the National Council for Public Procurement, NCPP, but this was neglected by the Goodluck Jonathan administration. There is no doubt, this is one of the observations by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government when he declared during the campaign period that he will display personal leadership in the war against corruption by inaugurating the National Council on Public Procurement as stipulated in Section 1 and 8 of the Procurement Act, and properly constitute the management of BPP in accordance with the law.
Attah therefore informed the Director General that “Our members are very concerned that despite these assurances, BPP could not wait for the Council to be inaugurated before this advertisement? In other words, why is BPP in a hurry to implement this illegality published in Page 33 to 42 of Daily Trust of 13th May 2015?
