Despite promises
during the campaigns in the build up to the 2015 election, President Muhammadu
Buhari has failed to inaugurate the National Council on Public
Procurement,
NCPP, as required by Nigerian law.
The Public
Procurement Act 2007 was signed into law by late President Umaru Yar’Adua on
June 4, 2007.
The Act provides for
the establishment of the National Council on Public Procurement, NCPP, and the
Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, as the regulatory authorities responsible
for the monitoring and oversight of public procurement as well as harmonizing
existing government policies and practices. The act was put in place to put
more transparency in and ensure public participation in government procurement.
Membership of the
council according to the Act should comprise 12 members to be appointed by the
president.
While six of the
members are government officials, the other six are drawn from relevant professional
organisations. Those from the government side, considered permanent members,
include the Minister of Finance, who serves as chairman, and the Director
General of the BPP as secretary.
Others are the
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Secretary to
the Government of the Federation, the Head of Service, and the Economic Adviser
to the President.
Those representing
professional bodies are drawn from the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigerian
Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management, the Nigeria Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, Mines and Agriculture, the Nigeria Society of Engineers, a
representative of civil society organisations and that of the media.
NOT ONLY BUHARI
Although President
Yar’Adua signed the Act into law in his first week in office, he however,
failed to set up the council until his death in May 2010.
His deputy and
successor, Goodluck Jonathan, who eventually served as president for five years
also failed to inaugurate the council.
As a result, most of
the functions of the council were carried out by the Federal Executive Council,
FEC.
The FEC is made up
the president, the vice president, all the ministers and some presidential
advisers; meaning the president and his political appointees who are all less
likely to question his decisions.
The inability of the
government to set up the council has meant the FEC approves contracts to be
executed by its members.
Mr. Buhari had in a
document circulated during the 2015 campaigns titled ‘ My covenant with
Nigerians’ promised to “inaugurate the National Council on Procurement as
stipulated in the Procurement Act so that the Federal Executive Council, which
has been turned to a weekly session of contract bazaar, will concentrate on its
principal function of policy making”.
Although the
president after assuming office disowned the document, a PREMIUM TIMES
fact check showed
the ruling All Progressives Congress did author it.
The document was
authored by the policy and research directorate of the APC presidential
campaign, headed by current Minister of Solid Minerals Development and former
Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, when the party was trying to convince
Nigerians to abandon the then ruling PDP.
COUNCIL COMING SOON
A top official of
the APC administration who declined to be named because he is not permitted to
speak to the media on the matter said the issue of NCPP ” just like other
boards and parastatals will be set up at the right time.”
The official said he
is aware the office of SGF is working on the composition of the boards of
parastatals.
He however, said,
“the truth is government has a lot more important matters to attend to at the
moment and the issue of procurement council and all others will be attended to
in due course.”
Several efforts to
speak with the SGF, Babachir Lawal, were unsuccessful. Calls to his mobile
phone could not be connected. He also did not respond to our text message at
the time of publishing this story.
Presidential
spokesperson, Garba Shehu, however, promised to “make inquiries and revert” to
us. He said the administration is “working on it”.
In reaction to the
failure of the Buhari administration to set up the council, lawyer Jiti Ogunye
said it is unacceptable for successive administrations to fail to inaugurate
the NCPP.
He said the
inability of the Buhari administration to inaugurate the council has ” grave
consequences” because the Act establishing the council was not meant ” to be
observed in breach”.
“The executive is
not at liberty to choose which law it could implement. It is not a
discretionary matter,” he said.
Mr. Ogunye said both
the federal and state governments are charged under Section 5 of the Nigerian
constitution 1999, as amended to “govern the country and execute all the laws
passed by the National Assembly”.
The human rights
lawyer said he could not say if the actions of the FEC to carry out the
functions of the NCPP is illegal because there is no legal pronouncement on the
matter.
He said the best way
to resolve the controversy is through “public interest litigation seeking an
order of mandamus” asking the Nigerian government to ” do what the law says
they should do”.
Mr. Ogunye said the
NCPP is the citizens only chance to participate in the procurement process in
the country.
“The business of the
Federal Executive Council is to deal with policy issues. It is not a contract
awarding body,” he said.
We need a court declaration
to say the FEC “as a substitute to the NCPP is illegal, unlawful and
unconstitutional. On the basis of arguments, we can say what they are doing is
illegal, but there is no legal declaration to that effect.”
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