PROPERTY ARTICLES

Rather than bemoaning the shortcomings of the Public Procurement Act, construction industry professionals have been challenged to see its enactment as a blessing because of its tendency to drastically reduce corruption.

According to the Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Mr. Jide Oke, the coming of the Act on the heels of several corruption scandals in the history of the country, the latest being the power sector and the Halliburton among others, should be a source of huge relief to professionals in the built environment.

Speaking at the April technical session of the Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Oke said that as players in the construction sector, which was a major direct recipient of heavy injection of capital in the nation’s quest for growth and development, the enactment of the Act should be seen as a prayer answered that has in place due process procedure and correcting the ills of the past.

He said that the essence of the Act was to fight corruption and punish corrupt persons involved in procurement, noting that the latest survey conducted by the World Bank on procurement activities prior to the enactment of the Act showed that bribery and corruption dominated Nigeria’s N775bn contract awards in 2007.

He, however, faulted the composition of the council members saddled with implementing the Act for excluding quantity surveyors, who were principal professionals in the procurement process.

Another gap in the Act, according to him, is clause S. 16 (b), which makes any procurement exercise subject to issuance of the certificate of no objection to contract award, which will make any contract awarded without the certificate to be null and void.

Apart from giving much discretionary power to procurement officers, Oke noted that it was counter productive for such a fundamental document not to have a time frame for its issuance, which might affect the validity of several contracts due to delays in the issuance of the certificate.

He also faulted the definition of the word, "works," in the Act for not including civil engineering works like roads, bridges, culverts, marine and harbour, jetties and erosion and flood controls as well as heavy engineering works such as petrochemicals, railways and power.

Chairman, Lagos Chapter, NITP, Mr. Moses Ogunleye, said that the theme of the session was informed by the need to expose members to issues relating to procurement and contract management, noting that the institute was concerned about the inefficient system of procurement in the country, which facilitates corruption.

He said, "Although the Public Procurement Act of 2007 was aimed at promoting transparency and stemming the tide of corruption, this can only be achieved when all key players in procurement play their roles effectively.

"In addition, efficiency in public procurement requires that the three tiers of government play active roles. Thus, it will be unproductive if only the Federal Government is involved. After all, there are many goods, services and works being procured at state and local government levels."