The Director General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Dr Adebowale Adedok7n, on Thursday, said that the agency had saved Nigeria N1.9 trillion from contract fraud over the years.
Adedokun stated this in Abuja, during the budget defence session BPP had with the Senate Committee on Public Procurement.
He said the agency set up 17 years ago, precisely on the 14th of June 2007, is a key stakeholder in the war against corruption in the country, particularly those that have to do, with contracts awards, inflation and diversion.
“BPP has within the last seventeen years been changing the landscape of public procurement in Nigeria by ensuring transparency, fairness and efficiency on contracts awards and execution. BPP has been saving the country from loss of at least N40 billion annually due to contract inflation, diversion of public funds and poor service delivery.
“Records from our price intelligence unit indicate that total money prevented so far from being diverted to personal pockets from contracts award is N1.9trillion. BPP has over the years been significantly contributing to increased revenue generation by the relevant agencies like the Federal Inland Revenue Service ( FIRS ), Nigeria Pension Commission ( PENCOM) etc.
He however lamented to the committee that while BPP on its own proposed N63.5 billion as capital vote for 2025, the budget office gave it an N1 57 billion envelope.
The paltry sum according to him, will not help in any way, help to solve the accommodation problem being faced by Staff of the Bureau, replace moribund project monitoring vehicles bought since 2008 and execute the E-procurement programme that is in the pipeline.
However, in their comments, members of the committee chaired by Senator Olajide Ipinsagba ( APC Ondo North), wondered how BPP with just 158 workers, would effectively and efficiently monitor contract awards and execution of over 800 government agencies under its purview.
The Committee through the Chairman, therefore, directed the DG of BPP to include the employment of more workers in the agency’s 2025 budget.
