BPP Not Ready To End Corruption', Says CSO As Procurement Stakeholders Converge In Abuja

By Fitri Mohammed/Abuja//Nigerian’s foremost regulatory agency for the implementation of
procurement in Nigeria, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) was
conspicuously absent at a roundtable on addressing the issues around
procurement corruption in Nigeria.
The event held on Thursday August 24 in Abuja was tagged “CSOs
Strategic Alliance and Think-tank Against Procurement Corruption” was
organized by four (4) leading anti-corruption NGOs and hosted by
Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative (PRADIN). Others are
Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEET), Civil
Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Human and
Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA)
Delivery a welcome address at the event, the national coordinator of PRADIN, Mohammed Bougei Attah informed the participants that the iinvitation was sent out to few and key stakeholders which include regulators, implementers and monitors in the business of procurement
application in Nigeria. He said there is increasing spate of high profile
corruption cases despite huge investment in both human and material
resources, make it necessary and urgent to address the issue as we
have a new Government of President Bola Ahmed Tinibu.

Further he said that it is no longer in doubt that procurement corruption alone
accounts for over 70% total corruption in the public sector. Participants
at the roundtable therefore frowned at the glaring absence of BPP, a regulatory agency despite adequate notification and invitation. “It is a cear evidence that the Agency is not ready to fight corruption by professionalizing the system” declared Attah. Participants however commended other anti-corruption agencies such in the Bureau of Public
Services Reforms (BPSR), the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Commission (ICPC)
The one-day strategic roundtable also have in attendance national
coordinator of Strategy Implementation Task Office for Presidential
Executive Order 5 (SITOPES) and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing
and Supply Management of Nigeria (CIPSMN) among several CSOs and
the media.