Stakeholders in the Public Procurement sector have rejected the Bill amend Public Procurement Act to punish contractors for unnecessarily delaying the completion or abandoning projects awarded to them.
The Director-General of the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP), Dr. Adebowale Adedokun and the immediate Director General of the agency, Emeka Ezeh in a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Public Procurement, noted that there was no need amending the law to punish contractors as such provisions are always contained in the contract.
Dr. Adedokun said the Public Procurement Act, 2007 harmonized the existing Government policies and practices by regulating, setting standards, and developing the legal framework for public procurement in Nigeria to give room for competition and transparency.
The immediate past Director General of BPP, Emeka Ezeh also opined that even though the intendment of the proposed amendment on the surface seems noble and well meaning, it appeared focused on addressing an effect rather than the cause of an obvious challenge in our contracting environment.
They therefore recommend that the Committee should rather help in the proper implementation and enforcement of the existing laws by ensuring that funds for contracts awarded should be provided as and when due.
(Upsound- Adebowale Adedokun, Director-General, BPP and Upsound- Emeka Eze, immediate past DG. BPP)
Chairman of the House Committee on Public Procurement, Unyime Idem said one mischief that has plagued the Public Procurement space in the country is the practice by contractors to delay projections unduly, intentionally, and without any fear of sanctions, adding that this mischief is driven by a number of factors, including incompetence of the contractors, non–prioritization of Federal Government projects, intention to apply for price variation, bad faith, compromise, absence of patriotism, economic sabotage, corruption, among others.
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