Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike has been described as a leader who is increasing the efficacy of governance by checking corruption and saving the administration billions of naira.

One of the sources (senior director) who preferred anonymity told LEADERSHIP that the minister discovered age-long practices in which mandate secretaries connived with some directors to manipulate approvals within their limits in multiple dimensions and steal billions of naira from government coffers.

According to him, the practice is known within official circles as the “national shopping procurement process”, which refers to the method through which government agencies purchase goods and services from suppliers or vendors.

He said, “It typically involves selecting suppliers through competitive bidding or other transparent processes to ensure that the government gets the best value for money.

“Through the national shopping procurement process, government agencies are expected to identify their needs, prepare specifications or requirements for the goods or services they need to procure, and then solicit bids or proposals from potential suppliers.

“This can be done through a variety of methods, such as requests for quotations (RFQs), requests for proposals (RFPs), or electronic procurement platforms,” he said.

The director said upon receiving bids or proposals, government agencies evaluate them based on criteria such as price, quality, past performance, and compliance with specifications. The agencies then select the supplier that offers the best value and meets the procurement requirements.

“The policy’s original and intended objective is to ensure that government agencies procure goods and services in a fair, transparent, and cost-effective manner. By promoting competition among suppliers, the process aims to drive down costs and improve the quality of goods and services procured by the government.

“But over the years that the policy has been in place, it has been grossly abused, leading to high corruption where billions are being siphoned daily through a multiplicity of reckless approvals.

“For instance, a mandate Secretary have an approval limit of N4m for an item or service at a time and instead of making one approval, he or she can make multiple approvals of N4m in up to 40 or 50 places just to mob up funds from it,” he said.

The director further said that, in essence, the national shopping procurement process is supposed to play a critical role in ensuring that government spending is used efficiently and effectively to meet the public’s needs.

“The abuse of this process over the years in FCT has led to leakages as this process is abused by most secretariat whose heads used it to make quick money for themselves without getting the jobs done.

“Sensing this, the minister through a circular has directed the suspension of the process so savings can be made for infrastructural development and the provision of other services.

To this end, billions of naira are being saved from the hands of corrupt officials,” he said.

Another insider, who preferred anonymity, commended the minister for being proactive and strategic in identifying this loophole and for blocking it.

“The minister has done us proud by stopping this act of corruption immediately it was brought to his attention. It’s part of the waste happening in government circles that only committed and eager-eyed leaders can know about and halt.

“We are happy that the minister has demonstrated huge indifference to this. It’s not that successive ministers did not know, but they chose to be beneficiaries and accomplices for personal gains instead of being patriots and true leaders. We commend the minister for pulling the rugs off the feet of corruption and for standing for the truth,” he said.