Director General, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mamman Ahmadu, said Permanent Secretaries retreat (PS) is aimed at equipping the Federal Permanent Secretaries with the fundamental principles of Procurement to achieve value for money.
The DG made this remarks when he delivered his welcome address during the retreat taking place at the Ibom Hotels and gulf resort, Uyo Akwa Ibom State, on Friday 27, May, 2022
He said federal Permanent Secretaries are the accounting officers in the ministries stated that under section 20 sub-section 1 of the procurement Act, 2007 places the PS at the heart of the procurement process, hence, he said, it is important to guide them appropriately according to procurement Act, 2007.
He said “we are here to take stock on how our respective ministries have fared over the years particularly in terms of submission of procurement plans and records (NOCOPO). This he said will be discussed at the retreat.
Mamman Ahmadu said, discussions were going on the introduction of e-procurement. The e-procurement he said, was currently being developed by the Bureau in collaboration with the World Bank and (10) MDAs have being selected as pilot procuring entity before the full roll out of the system service wide.
He said, the benefits to be derived from the use of e-procurement were tremendous as drivers of the procurement reforms in their respective ministries, He said it is importance that this information is brought to their attention.
The theme of this retreat is “strengthening public procurement for optimal effectiveness” He said that, tremendous improvements have being recorded in public procurement over the years and he encouraged the PS to do more for optimal achievement.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Mrs Folasade Yemi Esan while presenting her remarks said “government at all levels have sacrosanct responsibility of ensuring the welfare of its people” thus, she said, the laws regulating public procurement in the country exist to ensure that, public funds and resources are responsibly utilized with the objective of obtaining value for money.
She urged the Permanent Secretaries to use scrutiny and discretion before the award of contract which must be within their approval thresholds in conformity with other extant financial regulations as it is important to know that, liabilities arising from failure to ensure accountability and transparency may not go away even after leaving the office in addition, she said, accounting officers could be asked to account for his or her actions and inactions even after leaving office.
In his goodwill message, the Chairman, Senate Committee on public procurement, ably represented by Mr. Uche U. Uche implored the PS to timely oblige the committee of information on procurement activities as may be requested for legislative scrutiny as one of the core mandates which includes oversight of public procurement activities in all Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies as it enshrined in rule no 96 (52c) of the Senate standing orders 2022 as amended and is in tedium with section 62 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.
He implored the Bureau to critically re-examine all sections and clauses and to come up with areas that needs urgent attention of National Assembly for amendment.
Added that “no matter how hydra-headed the challenges may seem, concerted efforts should be made to address them because the public procurement Acts 2007 is in line with international best practices.
The Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State Mr. Udom Emmanuel ably represented by the Deputy Governor, Mr. Moses Ekpo said, Public Procurement process has been internalized, so, it has become a standard practice.
He commended the Bureau of Public Procurement for their efforts and hoped that, the PS will do justice to the discussions for management of procurement process and to strengthen the gains made so far.
He welcomed the participants to the State and declared the retreat open.
