E-procurement initiative underway, says DG BPP

The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) says an e-procurement system is underway in the country.

The Director General of BPP, Dr Adebowale Adedokun, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja, when a delegation of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) paid a courtesy visit to his office.

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The delegation was led by NAN Chief Executive Malam Ali Muhammad Ali.

Adedokun said the bureau is already working with the National Assembly to amend the Public Procurement Law as part of the process of implementing the initiative.

He also said President Bola Tinubu has approved a community-based procurement model proposed by the Federal Ministry of Health and the BPP for immediate implementation.

Adedokun said the community-wide initiative aims to give Nigerians the opportunity to bid for contracts without coming to Abuja.

He explained that under the model, Nigerians could bid for “low-cost contracts” through the application of technology.

“This means you can actually bid on a contract as a venue on your phone and have the money transferred to you.

“Civil society leaders and traditional leaders will confirm that the project has been implemented before payments are made,” he said.

Adedokun added that the initiative was designed to keep funds within local economies and reduce security risks associated with traveling to Abuja to seek contracts.

“We no longer want Abuja-based contractors to continue to go to our local governments and pick up what others can do.”

The director general also said the government now has a debarment policy to penalize non-compliant contractors.

“Under this administration and for the first time, we have a debarment policy that a contractor who does bad work should be shamed, published nationally and internationally, and not get work again for a period of time,” Adedokun said.

Previously, Ali had expressed concern that many of the administration’s successes were going uncelebrated because MDAs did not give them adequate publicity.

According to him, NAN’s credibility makes it the preferred platform for media-savvy institutions and institutions.

“Our customers say if it goes to NAN, then it will be authentic.

“When you talk to NAN, you are talking to everyone. Give us your statement, your press release, the rest I assure you that within a few minutes others like you will understand,” Ali said.

NAN reports that the BPP was established by the Public Procurement Act 2007, succeeding the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (BMPIU), created in 2001 to implement reforms for transparency, competition and value for money in public spending. (NAN)

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