President of the Senate, Sen. Ahmad Lawan, on
Monday said the nation’s public procurement procedures were short of world best
practices, saying the Act will receive holistic overhaul.
Lawan also frowned at the
contract performances across board saying “From stage of bidding to
mobilisation, costing of any government contracts must be uniform in order to
avoid imbalances and embarrassment in the processes.”
He said this when he played host
to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha
,who led seven other Federal Permanent Secretaries to his office.
According to Lawan, Nigerians
always stand disadvantaged with such anomalies in the procurement process.
He said there was the need to
review the Public Procurement Act, NAN reports.
“The Public Procurement in
Nigeria as far as I can see is not the best in the world.
“The Public Procurement must be
reviewed and amended, we must see how we can make it more practical and
holistic.
”The process takes time and it
keeps demobilising our national budget. Those who are able to win any contract
must implement the project diligently.
“Our Public Procurement committee
will be a very strong committee this time around. The cost of projects in
Nigeria is mostly the highest in the world.
”We cannot continue like this,
not in the face of very scarce resources, so, we are going to insist that the
Public procurement particularly is considered better than before.
“If there should be a purchase of
buses by 10, 20 twenty ministries, the cost must be uniform so that we don’t
drag into crisis on what we buy.
“Also, the market prices must be
determined to ensure that we are not overcharged or over invoiced.
“The Procurement Committee when
in place will make sure we work towards achieving this set agenda in order to
avoid putting the public at disadvantaged position,” Lawan explained.
He also commended the SGF for
bringing cordiality into the executive and legislative arms of government.
He added that the pathways of
understanding among the tiers of government would ease development stride of
the present administration.
Lawan assured that the Senate was
ready to work closely with other arms of government and the Nigerian people to
accelerate infrastructural and socio-economic developments across the country.
According to him, “The Senators
in the 9th Assembly have resolved to be patriotic and focus.
“We are ready to work, I
commended the Peoples Democratic Party’s(PDP) Senators, who acted patriotically
during the elections of the Presiding officers and we are going to maintain the
unity and appreciate the support given to us.
“We are mindful of what we say
and we are more mindful of our promises to the electorate.
“Nigerians are looking for
solutions and that matter to us, this is an institution I know best.
“I have spent 20 years here as
lawmaker, we will put our experiences into practice and we are going to support
the President Muhammad Buhari’s legacy to bring Nigerians out of poverty.
“This is the only way we can
address our insecurity and achieve economy that works for every Nigerian.”
Earlier, Boss Mustapha applauded
the President of the Senate for starting on a vibrant mood.
He said Nigerian project was of
great importance to the present administration, and urged members of the
parliament to continue to strengthen the ties with other arms of government to
achieve the set agenda of the Buhari’s administration in good time.
Mustapha urged the senators to
always put the nation first, promising that the executive arm was determined to
ensure a successful tenure of office for the leadership of the National
Assembly and its members.
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