•We prevented funds from being diverted into personal pockets — Adedokun
Director General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Dr. Adebowale Adedokun on Monday disclosed that the Agency saved the nation N1.9 trillion during the review of procurement and verification of contract sums between 2009 and 2023.
Adedokun disclosed this in Abuja during the 2024 budget performance and 2025 budget defence held at the instance of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Procurement.
He said: “Mr. Chairman, the Bureau’s Price Intelligence mechanism has generated significant savings to the federal government. The prior review of procurements and the verification of contract sums and approach, has resulted in cumulative savings of over N1.9 trillion and this has prevented funds from being diverted into personal pockets.
“This process also helps to reduce excessive project costs and release more funds for other development investments.”
A breakdown of the contract’s total sum of N1,900,282,844,421.28 showed that: in 2009 – N46.519 billion, 2010 – N216.690 billion, 2011 – N77.652 billion, 2012 – N124.113 billion, 2013 – N95.797 billion, 2014 – N127.368 billion and 2015 – N49.519 billion.
Also, the Bureau saved the sums of N32.398 billion in 2016; 2017 – N78.977 billion, 2018 – N170.485 billion, 2019 – N49.142 billion, 2020 – N172.676 billion, 2021 – N146.961 billion, 2022 – N365.568 billion and 2023 – N146.410 billion.
He explained that in addition to the direct savings highlighted above, the bureau’s compliance mechanism has also contributed to increased revenue generation by compelling bidders to be up to date on the payment of their taxes, pensions and social security contributions before participating in any procurement proceedings.
The DG assured that the Agency has put necessary measures in place to strengthen its audit systems in a bid to tackle corruption in the procurement system in the country.
He said this when he appeared before the Committee on Public Procurement to defend the Bureau’s 2024 budget performance and 2025 proposal.
Adedokun however decried the budgetary ceiling placed on the agency, which he feared would hamper this objective among other strategies it plans to adopt to improve the system.
He said during budget planning and preparation, the Bureau proposed a total sum of N72,775,250,713, however, the Budget Office allocated a ceiling of N3,283,021,838. This sum, he noted, was in exclusion of Personnel budget of N649,558,451.59.
On the 2024 budget performance, he said a total sum of N2,234,785,641 was allocated out of which N2,110,061,164 was utilized.
He said the capital allocation of N289,418,688 for the year was inadequate to achieve any meaningful reforms and address the core mandates that will realize effective contract administration.
He added that only the sum of N184,024,690 of the sum for capital expenditure has so far been released.
Adedokun said the agency’s 2025 budget primarily focuses on addressing its office accommodation challenge, addressing monitoring and evaluation of projects throughout the nation, delivering an electronic procurement system to the country as well as building capacity.
While expressing gratitude to the Committee for the support it had shown the Bureau, he decried the paucity of funds and sought its assistance to get more money.
He said: “We also realise that we need to also intensify our audit exercise. It is better to prevent than to prosecute. Under our watch, our strategy is to ensure we prevent the misuse of funds through real-time IT tools in procurement audits.
“We want to go digital in terms of our workflow, which means even if DG is not on seat, certification can be done anywhere in the country. We also provided for an upgrade of our national database of contractors and service providers.
“Under the 2025 budget, it would no longer be business as usual. We will be categorizing contractors meaning that contractors of equal competence must bid for projects within their funding capacity.
“I want to assure you that we can transform the procurement space within the shortest possible time. We will do more if empowered financially.
“If we use procurement as a tool for good governance, it would reduce corruption and poverty and increase employment and industry if this appeal is given due consideration.
“BPP has the capacity to contribute significantly to the GDP of the country through the innovations we are bringing on board.”
Adedokun said the various achievements by the Agency over the years have been with very limited funding.
He said under his administration the Bureau is committed to making the contracting process even more efficient, transparent and competitive for foreign and local contractors.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Unyime Idem, said they were mindful of the ceiling imposed on the agency and would do something about that.
“I want to assure you that what you have seen before us is the proposal, so we would engage the committee in charge of appropriation to ensure that those inadequacies in terms of funding are addressed,” he said.
Hon. Idem said the BPP remains a vital institution for the ability of any government to achieve good governance and deliver the dividends of democracy.
He said if the BPP improves its productivity in playing its full role, it will improve the quality of governance, procurement and project management.
“However, how can the above be achieved without an empowered BPP? I have looked at the data with respect to the allocation to the BPP in 2024, which indicates that it was allocated N2,234,785,641 and N2,110,061,164 was released under the 2024 budget.
“Under the budget proposal before the National Assembly, the Budget Office of the Federation and the Ministry of Budget and National Planning allocated to the BPP a maximum ceiling of N3,383,021,838, excluding personnel cost. This is notwithstanding the impact of inflation between January 2024 and January 2025.
“I have perused the Needs Assessment conducted by the BPP preparatory to the presentation of the extant budget, and I can see that the actual needs of the Bureau come to about N72,775,250,713.
“I have noted that there are some major critical needs of the Bureau, for example, the Bureau does not have a befitting and functional Office accommodation. An important institution like the BPP that is reviewing huge projects and regulates all the major capital projects in Nigeria should have a befitting office.
“I urge the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to expedite action on leveraging technology to enhance its operations. To effectively regulate, review, and monitor public procurement, the BPP must deploy cutting-edge IT assets, digital platforms, and artificial intelligence.
“Notably, many countries have successfully transitioned to e-procurement, achieving significant gains in efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency. I charge the BPP to prioritize the upgrade of its outdated digital infrastructure, including the National Contractors Database Intelligence, Price Intelligence and Monitoring, Asset Tracking and Management, and other critical systems, to ensure seamless and transparent public procurement processes,” he said.
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