Vice President Namadi Sambo
Abimbola Akosile
To succeed in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, effective compliance with the Public Procurement Law (PPA 2007) at the federal and state levels has been described as indispensible.
This was the outcome of a one-day sensitisation workshop on the role of the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) in the campaign against corruption in the South-south zone of the country, which took place in Benin City, Edo State.
In a communiqué endorsed by the Lead Zonal Coordinator and Executive Director of the Niger Delta Budget Monitoring Group (NDEBUMOG), Mr. George-Hill Anthony, citizens were urged to familiarise themselves with the contents and guidelines in the PPA 2007, in a bid to hold their elected representatives accountable in governance.
The public sensitisation focused on the PP Act, which was signed into law by then-President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2007.
The BPP, through its appointed facilitator organised the fourth phase public sensitisation on the Public Procurement Act. The event was attended by the Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) who was represented by Mr. Anthony Ikpor (Director-Research, Training and Strategic Planning of the Bureau).
Others were the Special Assistant to the Edo State Governor on NGOs, Mrs. Isimene Whyte, Special Assistant to the Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, Ms Angela Onwaeze, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 5 Benin City, who was represented
by ACP Adeleye Oyebade, representative of the Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC), Mr. Ehiorobo Okonkwo, the Commissioner for Economic Planning, Delta State, who was represented by Mr. Emeka Okonkwo.
Six Secondary Schools, Contractors, Consultants, Women Groups, Persons with Disabilities, NGOs, Youth Groups and NYSC members, the Media, amongst others, were also in attendance. Participants at the programme were over 600.
The sensitisation was to enlighten contractors, public servants, consultants, politicians, civil society organisations, professional bodies and associations, together with the general South-South stakeholders on the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.
It was an opportunity to interact with the general public from the zone on how they can take
maximum advantage of the law to compete effectively in national procurements, while various papers were presented.
The forum resolved, amongst others, that the sensitisation workshop is timely at this point in the country’s political evolution.
“Nigerians should acquaint themselves with the public procurement laws of the federal and respective state governments, to enable them engage government and other stakeholders
effectively.
“There is need for citizens of Edo state in particular and the South-south in general to play active role in ensuring effective government compliance with the public procurement laws.
“The media should live up to its traditional role of watch-dog in a democracy, while sensitisation workshops of this nature should be sustained and held more frequently, especially at the grassroots”, the communiqué, signed by Anthony and Mr. Austin Osakue of Foundation for Good Governance and Social Change, read.