The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has assured that the development and revision of public procurement and standard bidding documents will ensure Nigeria avoids the repeat of the $10 billion P&ID award saga and other contract-related losses.
Nigeria is currently challenging the arbitration award of $10bn judgment debt in favour of Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) over a botched gas contract which the country has described as a “fraudulent contract” with the Irish company.
However, the Director General of BPP, Mamman Ammadu, at a stakeholders’ engagement in Kano on the review of the draft standard bidding and contract documents yesterday, said a lasting preventive measure against such would come through the revised procurement documents.
“The current documents were developed in 2009 and last updated in 2011 and have major inadequacies to cater for large, complex and dynamic procurement of goods, services and administration of contracts arising from their use.
“Hence, the process of review of the existing procurement documents and the development of new ones was activated with the engagement of a consultant with global experience to help drive the process,” the DG, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Compliance, Eng Ishyak Yahaya, said.
The Programme Coordinator and Director of ICT, Aliyu Aliyu, said the revised documents had been expanded to cover consultancy, adding that the benefits of these standard documents would eradicate individual Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the government writing their own agreements.
On his part, Chibuzo Ekwekwuo of A&E Law Partnership, the consultants on the programme, said the revision would improve value for money and improve efficiency and timeliness, as well as “see public procurement begin to drive indigenous economic development and also see to improved compliance.”
