By Chukwudi Obasi, Abuja
The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Dr Adebowale Adedokun, has said the agency is strengthening its audit systems to tackle corruption in public procurement in the country.
He said this when he appeared before the Committee on Public Procurement to defend the Bureau’s 2024 budget performance and 2025 proposal.
Adedokun, however, decried the budgetary ceiling placed on the agency, which he feared would hamper this objective, among other strategies it plans to adopt to improve the system.
He said that during budget planning and preparation, the Bureau proposed a total sum of N72, 775, 250, 713; however, the Budget Office allocated a ceiling of N3, 283, 021, 838. This sum, he noted, was in exclusion of the Personnel budget of N649, 558, 451.59.
On the 2024 budget performance, he said 2 234, 785, and 641 were allocated, out of which N2, 110, 061, and 164 were utilised.
He said the capital allocation of N289,418,688 for the year was inadequate to achieve meaningful reforms and address the core mandates that will realize effective contract administration.
He added that only N184, 024, and 690 of the capital expenditure sum had been released.
Adedokun said the agency’s 2025 budget primarily focuses on addressing its office accommodation challenge, monitoring and evaluating projects throughout the nation, delivering an electronic procurement system to the country, and building capacity.
While expressing gratitude to the committee for its support of the Bureau, he decried the paucity of funds and sought its assistance in raising more money.
The DG said, “We also realise that we need to intensify our audit exercise. It is better to prevent than to prosecute. Under our watch, our strategy is to prevent the misuse of funds through real-time IT tools in procurement audits.
“We want to go digital in our workflow, which means even if DG is not on seat, certification can be done anywhere in the country. We also provided for an upgrade of our national database of contractors and service providers.
“Under the 2025 budget, it would no longer be business as usual. We will categorize contractors, meaning that contractors of equal competence must bid for projects within their funding capacity.
“I want to assure you that we can transform the procurement space in the shortest possible time. We will do more if we are empowered financially.
“If we use procurement as a tool for good governance, it would reduce corruption and poverty and increase employment and industry if this appeal is given due consideration.
“BPP can contribute significantly to the country’s GDP through the innovations we bring on board.”
Adedokun said the agency’s various achievements over the years have been achieved with minimal funding.
He said that under his administration, the Bureau is committed to making the contracting process even more efficient, transparent, and competitive for foreign and local contractors.
The Chairman of the Committee, Unyime Idem, said the committee was mindful of the ceiling imposed on the agency and would take action.
“I want to assure you that what you have seen before us is the proposal, so we would engage the committee in charge of appropriation to ensure that those inadequacies in terms of funding are addressed,” he said.
Idem said the BPP remains a vital institution for any government’s ability to achieve good governance and deliver democracy’s dividends.
He said if the BPP improves its productivity and plays its full role, it will enhance the quality of governance, procurement, and project management.
“However, how can the above be achieved without an empowered BPP? I have looked at the data concerning the allocation to the BPP in 2024, which indicates that N2,234,785,641 and N2,110,061,164 were released under the 2024 budget.
“Under the budget proposal before the National Assembly, the Budget Office of the Federation and the Ministry of Budget and National Planning allocated to the BPP a maximum ceiling of N3,383,021,838, excluding personnel cost. This is notwithstanding the impact of inflation between January 2024 and January 2025.
“I have perused the Needs Assessment conducted by the BPP preparatory to the presentation of the extant budget, and I can see that the actual needs of the Bureau come to about N72,775,250,713.
“I have noted some major critical needs of the Bureau; for example, the Bureau does not have a befitting and functional Office accommodation. An important institution like the BPP, which reviews massive projects and regulates all the major capital projects in Nigeria, should have a befitting office.
“I urge the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to expedite action on leveraging technology to enhance its operations. To regulate, review, and monitor public procurement effectively, the BPP must deploy cutting-edge IT assets, digital platforms, and artificial intelligence.
“Notably, many countries have successfully transitioned to e-procurement, achieving significant efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency gains. I charge the BPP to prioritise upgrading its outdated digital infrastructure, including the National Contractors Database Intelligence, Price Intelligence and Monitoring, Asset Tracking and Management, and other critical systems, to ensure seamless and transparent public procurement processes,” he said.
