The Senate Wednesday mandated its Committees on Public Procurement and Local Content to collaborate with the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to amend Nigeria’s procurement and local content laws so that newly registered local contractors can be included, especially in contract bidding.
The red chamber made the decision after adopting a motion sponsored by Suleiman Sadiq (APC, Kwara North) during the plenary.
The aim of the motion is to ensure that newly registered local contractors and small-scale businesses can access and execute public contracts, especially in construction and other infrastructure projects
Senator Sadiq, while presenting the motion decried the exclusion of small and medium indigenous companies from participating in federal government contracts.
He argued that empowering local contractors would not only increase job creation but also stimulate community development and ensure that public funds circulate within the local economy.
In his contribution to debate on the motion, Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East) emphasised the economic implications of the motion, noting that local contractors often have the required expertise and capacity but are overlooked due to current procurement guidelines.
Also speaking, Adamu Aliero (APC, Kebbi Central) questioned the logic of excluding qualified Nigerian firms from benefiting from their own government’s contracts.
“No Nigerian contractor no matter high skilledbcam go to China to get contract. I didn’t see why we should not engage indigenous people to participate in the construction,” he added.
The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, expressed the same concerns, noting that local contractors are consistently shortchanged.
The Senate accordingly after the debate on the motion , directed its relevant committees to work closely with the BPP in amending the laws to allow greater local participation in federal contracts, including those awarded to startups and newly registered firms.