By Martin Paul
Abuja
The federal government has threatened to sanction newly appointed chief executive officers of education agencies and heads of tertiary institutions if they fail to adhere to the procurement Acts.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, handed down the warning yesterday in Abuja during an interactive meeting with chairmen and secretaries of the Parastatals Tender Boards.
She said it had come to the realisation that where huge amount of money was involved, the tendencies to engage in corrupt practices was also possible, adding that chief executives officers would be held responsible, where the regulations were being breached.
She said procurement was an important agenda in the nation economic development as the public were interested in the delivering of service in a transparent manner.
Yemi-Esan, who noted that there were several petitions from public indicating that procurement regulations were not adhered to and best bidder not given the job, said due process needed to be followed to check abuse of law.
The permanent secretary explained that the meeting became imperative because of the appointment of new chief executives and heads of tertiary education, who might have had no experience in the procurement orders.
In his remark, the Director of Procurement at the Ministry, Dr. Hussaini Adamu, said the meeting was an agenda for a change in approach to procurement, processes and procedures in the federal ministry of education parastatals.
Adamu said there was need for the new executives to be knowledgeable on processes of procurement as an important component in the process of spending government fund especially now that Nigeria’s resources are dwindling
