Managing Director Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku says the commission is committed to comply with the tenets of Public procurement Acts in project delivery.
Dr. Ogbuku who made this known in Port Harcourt Rivers State during Capacity Building cum Training on Public Procurement for Executive Management and Directors of NDDC, said that it was necessary to make management staff know what is stipulated in the procurement process.
The MD explained that on assumption of office he discovered a lot of anomalies of the past because the process was weak.
The Managing Director who explained that the Commission’s contract award letter was digitized to stop people from parading fake award letters, acknowledged that many directors and service providers were in trouble with EFCC in the past because of fake and wrong documentations.
He expressed reservations on service providers who do their contract bidding with fake documents.
The NDDC Boss stated that the commission was transiting into E-procurement to fight corruption and promote accountability in the system.
He expressed optimism that Digitization of Procurement process was a move in the right direction to limit human errors and long manual procurement procedures.
According to the MD, the commission has come of age to stick to rules and policies of Government, in a bid to enhance the development of the region.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Interventionist Agency who enjoined directors to follow the rules in their procurement plans, asked them to be meticulous in their requests in accordance with their procurement plans, to be able to get approvals when needed.
He stated that directors should have the experience to know what is obtainable in line with the laid down rules.
The Managing Director of NDDC maintained that every Director should have a good knowledge of procurement process, saying that proposals from vendors should be scrutinized in line with priority of needs.
The MD insisted that procurement plans must comply with needs assessment of the region.
Dr. Ogbuku stated that the vision and direction of the commission May vary yearly in line with needs assessment of the region per time.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of NDDC, procurement demands must be in line with procurement plans as captured in the yearly budget of the Commission.
The MD emphasized on the need to measure different intervention programmes of the commission on percentage bases to be able to meet different needs of various stakeholders.
Ogbuku told Directors that there was need for sacrifice in service which entails being prudent in managing public funds, while leaving out personal interests.
Similarly, Director Procurement NDDC, Dr. Chuks Osuji explained that the Training was put up to bring Directors up to speed on their roles in the procurement process to promote accountability and due process.
Dr. Osuji noted that following procurement process required adherence to procurement plans.
On his part,
Pioneer Director General, Bureau of Public procurement, BPP, Dr. Emeka Ezeh in an overview of Public Procurement in Nigeria, stated that procurement was meant to prevent corruption not just to fight corruption.
He maintained that procurement targets getting value for money spent by Government.
Dr. Ezeh Regretted that most public officers were
nonchalant about public funds which has resulted in poor execution of projects and even abandonment.
According to him, procurement remains one of the government’s activities prone to corruption.
The pioneer DG of BPP asserted that if Procurement was properly handled, it would build public confidence on the leadership.
He stated that there were institutional framework agencies for public procurement, such as: NASS, BPP, EFCC.
The facilitator told the directors that it was necessary to play by the rules to avoid being entangled in corrupt practices and subsequent consequences.
Dr. Ezeh insisted that transparency,
integrity, openness, fairness, competition and accountability should be the guide while engaging in public procurement.
According to him, value for money in procurement would be achieved if the concept of 5Rs were met; which include
right quantity, Right quality, place, time and cost.
Ezeh noted that people, Process and Technology PPT, form the pillers of procurement.
Dr. Emeka Ezeh commended NDDC for taking a bold step into E-procurement, describing the initiative as the game changer.
