22 February 2015, Abuja – Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says the Bureau for Public Procurement, BPP, saved the Federal Government about N528 billion through project reviews from 2009 to date.
Okonjo-Iweala said this at the first National Conference on Public Procurement in Abuja.
The theme of the conference is “Public Procurement, A Tool for Good Governance”.
She said that in the first three years of its existence, BPP saved about N450 billion for the Federal Government.
Okonjo-Iweala disclosed that government was losing about N400 billion annually to irregular procurement before the establishment of BPP.
The minister said BPP was one of the most important agencies of the Federal Government and a major anchor of its reform programme.
She urged the agency to continue with the reform and also called on the private sector to co-operate with it in its bid to sanitise the public procurement process.
The Director-General, BPP, Mr Emeka Ezeh, in his speech, said the bureau would continue to work towards strengthening the procurement processes in public institutions, including ministries and departments.
He said no less than 180 companies had been recommended to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Allied Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for investigation over suspected procurement breaches.
Ezeh said the conference was a platform to urge all state governors to facilitate the enactment of Public Procurement Act in their states, stressing that Federal and state governments should demonstrate commitment to good procurement process.
-NAN
