Only 355 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government have complied with the directive to collate and submit 2014 procurement records to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).
BPP Head, Public Relations Unit, Thomas Odemwingie, disclosed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday. Mr. Odemwingie said that of the number, 146 complied with the directive only after they received queries from the bureau. He also said that the bureau had at the end of June, compiled a list of 187 MDAs that had not complied with the directive.
NAN reports that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, had in October 2015, directed all MDAs to submit the documents or face sanctions. At the time, he had said that since the current administration upheld the rule of law, all statutory requirements of the Procurement Act would be enforced.
He said the records were meant to give the government an overview of all procurement activities embarked upon by the various MDAs, irrespective of approval thresholds. NAN also recalls that in March, queries were issued to chief executives of MDAs that had not complied. The query stated that the erring MDAs were violating Section 16 (12 and 13) of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007.
(NAN)
