The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, has inaugurated a committee to review the Public Procurement Act 2007 in line with current economic realities in the country.
Akume, in his inaugural speech, recalled that the Public Procurement Act 2007 was signed into law on June 4, 2007, by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
The SGF explained: “The act provides the legal and institutional framework for the enthronement of transparency, accountability, value for money, and efficiency in the procurement of works, goods, and services within the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.
“The Public Procurement Act 2023 established the National Council on Public Procurement and the Bureau of Public Procurement as the regulatory authorities responsible for the monitoring and oversight of public procurement, harmonising the existing government policies and practises by regulating, setting standards, and developing the legal framework and professional capacity for public procurement in Nigeria, and for related matters.
“Having implemented the Public Procurement Act for over 15 years, this administration has seen the need to review and strengthen the provisions of the act to make it more responsive to the needs of the people. The objective of this review is to ensure realistic procurement outcomes in the face of current economic realities and to enhance budget implementation and ease of doing business.”
Listing the membership of the committee, he named the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice as chairman, while members include the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, representative of the World Bank and KPMG Nigeria as technical consultants and the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Affairs Office as member and secretary of the committee.
The terms of reference of the committee involve undertaking a holistic review of the Public Procurement Act 2007 by identifying key impediments militating against compliance with the act.
The committee will also make recommendations that will strengthen the provisions of the act to ensure transparency, accountability, value for money, efficiency, and timely delivery in the procurement of works, goods, and services by ministries, departments, and agencies.
The committee is also mandated to develop a draft amendment bill for consideration by the Federal Executive Council, as well as any other assignment as may be directed by the President.
The SGF urged members of the committee not to relent in the discharge of this huge task of reviewing the Public Procurement Act, which will make public procurement processes seamless to deliver public goods and services.
Director General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Mamman Ahmadu, who spoke on behalf of the members of the newly inaugurated committee, disclosed that his agency has already begun the process of the review internally and that it will work efficiently to actualise the objectives of the committee.
The committee has one month to complete its assignment.
