U.S. Blasts Nigerian National Assembly, Accuses Them Of Corruption, Lack of Transparency
The United States, through its Trade Estimate Report, has accused the Nigerian National Assembly and agencies in the country of abusing procurement processes and lacking transparency.
According to the report, U.S. companies have expressed “concerns about corruption and a lack of transparency in procurement processes in Nigeria.”
The report further stated: “The Public Procurement Act of 2007 established the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) as the regulatory authority responsible for the monitoring and oversight of public procurement in Nigeria.”
“Only majority Nigerian-owned companies may bid on procurements above ₦2.5 million (approximately $1,600), up to ₦100 million (approximately $64,000) for goods, and up to ₦1 billion (approximately $640,000) for services and works.”
The report noted that agencies in Nigeria do not consistently adhere to the standards set by the Bureau of Public Procurement.
“Above those thresholds, both majority foreign-owned and majority Nigerian-owned companies may engage in competitive bidding. However, agencies do not always follow procurement guidelines, despite the requirement that no procurement proceedings are to be formalised until the procuring entity has ensured that funds are available to meet the obligations and has obtained a ‘Certificate of No Objection to Contract Award’ from the BPP.”
The report also acknowledged that Nigeria has made some progress in improving its procurement processes: “Nigeria has made modest progress on its pledge to conduct open and competitive bidding processes for government procurement.”
“The BPP has made a variety of procurement procedures and bidding information publicly available on its website.”
However, the report specifically criticised the Nigerian National Assembly for operating outside the BPP’s oversight:
“However, Nigeria’s National Assembly operates its own procurement process that is not subject to BPP oversight and lacks transparency. Although U.S. companies have won contracts in various sectors, difficulties in receiving payments are common and can discourage firms from bidding.”
“Foreign government-subsidised financing arrangements appear in some cases to be a crucial factor in the award of government procurements.”
Procurement corruption has long been highlighted as a major issue affecting development in the country.
In January, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, stated that public sector corruption was the greatest problem in the country.
According to him, procurement and contract fraud accounted for 90 percent of the corruption in the sector.
The EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, said Olukoyede made this assertion during a meeting with a delegation from the management team of the Bureau of Public Procurement.
“In the EFCC, we handle both private and public sector fraud. And when it comes to the public sector, which is one of our major problems in Nigeria, we discovered that contract and procurement fraud takes more than 90 percent of the volume of public sector fraud. And if you look at it, they range from commingling, contract splitting, and all forms of shenanigans all over the place.”
“Infrastructure-wise and all other developmental problems are attributable to contract and procurement fraud. It lies with you and with me to make a change. If we can work together, we will be able to leave this country better than we met it,” he said.
