The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday frowned at the practice by some ministers who still award contracts captured in the 2024 budgets, twenty months after the its extension had lapsed.
The Minister of Information and Orientation, Mohammed Idris disclosed while briefing newsmen at the end of the council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“Several MDAs are still carrying out procurement processes for projects captured under the 2024 Appropriation that should have lapsed since December 2024. The law was extended to enable full implementation, but it is now over 20 months after, and more than 70 MDAs will still be carrying out procurement. It is recommended that awards should be concluded by the end of September 2025 to avoid unnecessary liabilities.
“There is need for His Excellency, Mr. President, to have an overview of projects awarded by Honourable Ministers and their respective Ministries. To this end, lists of projects that have been awarded by each Ministry and their parastatals under the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years should be forwarded to the Bureau of Public Procurement for further consideration, in line with SGF Circular on projects” he said
The minister also disclosed that the FEC directed Ministries, mainstream departments and agencies of government to give preference to made in Nigeria goods in their procurement processes..
“In line with Mr. President’s directive on Nigeria First Policy, MDAs should give preference to Made-in-Nigeria goods and services. These goods, works, and services must however conform to international standards and be certified by relevant Government authorities.
“The statutory responsibility to supervise these sectors lies with the Bureau of Public Procurement and the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit. Details of compliance with this policy should be forwarded to the Bureau of Public Procurement for analysis and transmittal to the Office of Mr. President for further consideration.”
He further stated that in order to enhance the implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly with respect to job creation and poverty reduction, Ministers should ensure that a significant number of projects in their 2025 budget are procured using the open competitive bidding method.
“Details of compliance with this policy should be forwarded to the Bureau of Public Procurement for analysis and transmittal to the Office of Mr. President for further consideration.
“To ensure that projects financed from bilateral loans are fit for purpose and that Government derives value for money, the Ministry of Finance should ensure that the DG, BPP, is included in the team that will negotiate loans for infrastructure development.
“This is to ensure that procurement decisions and project costs are not taken without professional inputs from the Regulator.
“The Finance Act 2020 intentionally stipulated that Government-owned companies and enterprises should comply with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act. However, several Government-owned companies still do not subject their procurements to the provisions of the Act.
“This has been responsible for financial recklessness observed in those companies. There is a need to direct that all Government-owned companies carry out their procurements in line with the Public Procurement Act” he said.
