On the eve of Eid al-Adha celebration, and in line with the powers vested on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in sections 5(1), 148 and 171 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu relieved and directed Mr. Mamman Ahmadu, the erstwhile Director General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP to handover his position to the most senior Director at the Bureau. Following this directive, the most senior Director in the Bureau, Barrister Olusegun Omotola took over as the Overseeing Director General of the BPP according to reports. This is in line with FGN Circular of July 4, 2017.

Recall that on March 18, 2011, in a similar circumstance, the then President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan sacked the acting Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Prof. Uriah Angulu from office via a letter signed by Abdullah Yola on behalf of the then Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, SAN.

The news of the sacking of Mr. Ahmadu as the Director General of BPP did not come as a surprise to many Nigerians, especially the stakeholders and practitioners in the procurement ecosystem. It was clear from his last outing, during his visit to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, that he has indeed come to the end of his ostracized tenure. The declaration by the Chairman of EFCC, Barrister Ola Olukoyede during the visit that the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007 is not helping the Commission in the fight against corruption was a rude shock to the operators in the procurement circle.

It is also not a surprise that the Council for the Ease of Doing Business under the Chairmanship of the Vice President, Kashim Shettima scored BPP zero percent (0 per cent) in the last review because it is clear that BPP is a quasi-judicial body, a regulatory agency that must be constituted properly for effective, efficient and statutory performances.

As one of the sunshine laws promulgated by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration under the recommendations of the World Bank Country Procurement Assessment Report (WB-CPAR) 2000, as well as the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria, CIPSMN Act concurrently in 2007, it is shocking that a lawyer and head of anti-corruption agency like EFCC could make such statement before the Director General of BPP without a counter response. This many viewed as a demonstration of lack of adequate knowledge of the matter.

Some of us that have had good working relationship with the EFCC and ICPC decided to remain silent as it is evident that both leaders, BPP and EFCC are simply ignorant of the provisions of the PPA 2007. For the above reasons and to discuss the main topic of this write-up, it is healthy to leave that undeserved expression of “error” for now.

Now, after the June 15 pronouncement by the President, major newspapers and other media outlets across the country reported the removal of Mr. Ahmadu but little was reported about the new “Acting DG” of the Bureau. A visit to the website of BPP however gave more information about him. By virtue of the Federal Government, FGN Circular of July 4, 2017, the most senior Director in any Agencies of government takes over from any Director General that may be removed from office by whatever circumstances. In this sense, the Director is termed to be ‘overseeing’ the Agency until a substantive Director General is appointed.

So, what are the implications of the failure of government to observe rule of law as contained in the Public Procurement Act 2007, applied together with CIPSMN Act 2007, for the growth and development of the economy? The answers are many, and the facts are glaring. Ironically, all governments from the Musa Yar’Adua era to Muhammadu Buhari have observed the law in disobedience. Instead of fighting corruption, the cankerworm is on the increase daily, and we all pretend not to see it or playing lip service to the fight against corruption.

Research has shown that procurement corruption accounts for over 70 per cent of total corruption cases in the system (See NGO Network Report on Corruption in the Public Sector 2010). While the anti-corruption bodies are daily fighting corruptions related concerns, procurement corruption appears to have defied all forms of logics, but the answer is simple but ignored.

Lack of capacity to interpret the laws, apply them and interrogate defaulters have been the bane of our large-scale corruption in public procurement. For example, there is no Procurement Audit Report that has been submitted to the National Assembly as required by law in Section 5(P) of PPA since 2007 because the BPP does not as at today have any competent and qualified person, as required by law, to sign a Public Procurement Audit report and lay same on the table of the National Assembly bi-annually as required in the above section of the law. It is exactly thirteen (13) years since this law was enacted and we are yet to address the huge gap in our quest to fight corruption.

To worsen the above situation is the absence of a National Council for Public Procurement, NCPP, as required in Part 1, Section 1 of PPA, to approve same Audit Report before it is submitted to the NASS. Yet year-in, year-out, we have Financial Audit Reports submitted by competent financial professional as the Auditor General of the Federation which serves as the reference point for financial and economic evaluation. Out of the three basic audits reports required for economic reforms, financial, physical and procurement reports, the last has not seen the light of the day. Yet, procurement alone accounts for the bulk of the corruption recorded in the system daily. Section 5(a), 5(p) and 2 (a) of PPA 2007 as well as Sections 16(1), 16(2) to (4) are very clear on the implications of functioning without these authenticated documents by the Council.

The law (PPA 2007) that provides for the establishment of NCPP was passed in 2007 by the National Assembly, 13 years ago, but the previous Presidents, pursuant to Sections 5(1), 148(1) 4(2) and 4(3) as well as S.171 of the 1999 Constitution failed to inaugurate the Council till date. President Umaru Musa Yaradua made an attempt in September 2007 to inaugurate this Council but this was cancelled when the members of the Council were seated because a report by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management, CIPSMN to the President in writing that BPP, submitted the name of a student member of the Institute to the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF without consultation with the Institute to confirm who is a member of the yet-to-be-inaugurated Council by the law.
To be continued tomorrow.
Attah is a procurement professional and the National Coordinator of Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative (PRADIN).