Procurement as gateway to good governance

Over the years, leakages to government’s revenue have majorly come from fraud perpetuated through the procurement process. Analysts are of the view that unless this is addressed head-long, it would be difficult for the country to develop its infrastructure; BENJAMIN UMUTEME writes.

When the Public Procurement Bill was signed into law by President Olusegun Obasanjo, it was with the aim of streamlining Nigeria’s public procurement process in the hope of curbing the pervasive corruption in the whole process.

But decades down the line, the situation seems to have gotten worse with the procurement umpires unable to seem to do much to stem the ugly trend.

Analysts have opined that procurement fraud is partly why the country has not been able to meet the much-desired national development needs.

Procurement fraud fuelling corruption

The Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative (PRADIN) in a report alleged that procurement fraud accounts for 70 percent of total corruption in the public sector.

PRADIN identified challenges confronting the administration of effective and efficient procurement processes in Nigeria noting that the challenges are largely responsible for the high level of corruption. and the unproductive nature of the BPP.

National Coordinator of PRADIN Mohammed Bougei Attah said, “Despite the huge investments and resources in the fight against corruption – human and materials- over the years, the wastage continues and corruption, particularly in high places, is on the increase.

“As a fact, procurement Corruption is not only fighting back, it appears to be winning the way. It is believed that over $16bn of our Commonwealth has gone into wastages. And this is caused by corruption through abandoned projects.”

Threat to efficient use of funds

Speaking at the Close-out and Journalism Award Ceremony of the International Centre for Investigative Journalism (ICIR) Open Contract Reporting Project (OCRP) in Abuja, last year, the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, identified procurement fraud – such as irregular contract awards, violations of the Public Procurement Act, and other infractions – as a major threat to effective governance and efficient use of public funds.

While noting that a significant proportion of corruption cases in Nigeria are linked to procurement fraud ranging from inflated contract sums and kickbacks to ghost projects and the deliberate manipulation of tender processes, the ICPC boss insisted that procurement fraud has had a devastating effect on the country as “projects critical to citizens’ welfare are either poorly executed or abandoned.

“Public funds meant to improve lives are siphoned into private pockets. Trust in government institutions diminishes, fueling apathy and resentment.

“Even this morning before I came, I read about procurement fraud in one big company in Nigeria. The company did not participate in the process and they were awarded the contract. It’s just sad,” he said.

Dr. Aliyu insisted that transparent and honest procurement processes are vital for enabling governments to deliver infrastructure, healthcare, education, and other essential services to citizens.

The ICPC helmsman insisted that combating procurement fraud in Nigeria would open up the space for efficient service delivery in the country.

Unending procurement fraud

In a chat with Blueprint Weekend, a political economist, Adefolarin Olamilekan, notes that despite the legal framework put in place to checkmate fraud in the procurement process, its malaise continues unhindered.

Sadly, Adefolarin said, “Nigeria has failed to take advantage of what the procurement process system offers thereby emboldening massive fraud in the procurement process.

“Unfortunately, in Nigeria, tackling corruption over the years, has not yielded the desired results especially with the systemic and systematic way corruption penetrates the procurement process in our nation. 

“The procurement sector is supposed to be immune from corrupt practice. It is so sad that even with the fine legal framework, the acts of corruption by unscrupulous and unethical persons distort the procurement process in Nigeria. 

“Another issue is the pressure coming from players in procurement process angle, especially contractors, consultants and others. The pressure from all these stakeholders’ is or the other fuel corruption in the procurement process.”

He continued: “In addition, there is absence of sanction and penalty for breaches of the procurement laws. Take for example the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) does have power to sanction or prosecute erring public servants or private actors.

“Furthermore, procurement corruption in public sectors is energized also due to poor oversight function of the national assembly and state houses of assembly.

Public affairs analyst Aliyu Ilias emphasised the need for the Bureau of Public Procurement to be alive to their mandate.

“There cannot be corruption without going through the procurement process. Every corruption is encouraged through the procurement process.

“The major aim of creating the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) is to ensure that there are no abandoned projects, there is adequate implementation of every contract and there is also monitoring of contractors and discouraging contract inflation. I think the onus is on the BPP to actually work on the way they handle procurement issues,” he said.

Fashioning a way out

For Ilias, who is an economist, the government needs to pay closer attention to the ‘letter of no objection’ that is issued by the BPP.

“First and foremost, you will recall that we have a ‘letter of no objection’, we have to look into it very well. And because of this corruption, former president Obasanjo created a pool staff where every procurement staff is from the BPP with training and retraining. But at that, there is serious fraud in the procurement process.  

“I think we must reduce the influence of politicians in contract and we must also ensure that the processes are properly monitored.

“Look at the issue of Kaduna-Abuja Road, it is the problem of procurement because the process was not duly followed, that is why we have problems.

“It is important that the federal government pay much more attention to procurement processes and look at the stakeholders that are involved,” he said.

In the same vein, Adefolarin stressed the importance of further strengthening the country’s procurement laws noting that what presently constitutes the procurement law is riddled with gaps. This just as he also called for the BPP to be further empowered to carry out its mandate.  

“For us, a modest way out of the challenge of corruption in our procurement system is to strengthen our procurement law by making room for sanctioning and punishment.

“Another is to empower the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) with sanction erring staff, public servants and actors in the private sector. As this goes a long way to deter people from procurement corruption.

Similarly, we call for serious oversight activity from the national assembly and state house of assembly in following up on contracts and other business endeavors from the government.

“Consequently, we must ensure consistent media enlightenment and advocacy on the danger of corruption in the procurement process. Highlighting the setback, it brings to national Development and Economic growths,” he added.