In a shocking revelation on Thursday July 4 in Abuja, a specialized coalition of CSOs advocating for sound procurement practice in Nigeria, Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative, PRADIN, has claimed that the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, recently demonstrated a lack adequate knowledge of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007.
The National Coordinator of PRADIN, Mohammed Bougei Attah, while reacting to questions from journalists during a Media and CSOs Parley on Thursday gave the insight quoting some provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007 to counter the EFCC statement.
The EFCC Chairman was quoted as saying “The Public Procurement Act 2007 is aiding corruption in contract awards”. The statement was made when the Chairman hosted the Management of the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP led by the former Director General in his office mid last month.
Mr. Attah said except where there are capacity gaps and inadequate information about the Act, it is unprofessional, discouraging and undermines the fight against corruption to make such declaration.
As a fact, the group maintained that the PPA 2007 is one of the five Sunshine Laws established to fight high level of corruptions in Nigeria.
Attah specifically quoted Section 58 of the PPA 2007 under Offences that makes the violation of some parts of the law criminal without option of fine if found guilty and convicted by the Court. Further he said Section 58 (4) (a-h) is very clear as to the types of Procurement offences and their penalties which are not less than five years imprisonment or above ten years.
Also the group revealed that Section 5 (n) under the Functions of BPP among others, gave them the powers to arrest frauds and misprocurement in contracts awards from initiation to implementation before it becomes a large scale corruption that EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies are confronted with daily.
In addition, the group revealed that Section 5 (p) of the PPA 2007 is about procurement audit which has not been complied with in the last 13 years since the enactment of the law and establishment of the Bureau. This they said is a huge minus in the fight against corruption because audits are necessary to prevent or reduce corruption.
The One-Day Media and CSOs Parley is held annually as part of the groups contribution to addressing procurement corruption issues which accounts for over 70% of total corruption cases in the public sector.