The House of Representatives Committee on Public Procurement on Tuesday kicked against the low budgetary allocation to the Bureau of Public Procurement BPP and demanded additional allocation for optimal performance
Speaking during the ongoing Budget Defence by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies MDAs of the Federal Government in Abuja, the Chairman of the Committee, Hon Nasir Ali Ahmed, and other members expressed their displeasure at the low budget proposal for the Agency Committee on
The Chairman pointed out that considering the enormous responsibilities vested in the BPP, it required more funding.
Hon Ahmed who noted that the N58m allocation was inadequate said, “We will liaise with the senate to seek ways to improve the budget of the BPP. We will sit down with the leadership of both Chambers to make sure that the issue is addressed. If there are any losers in this underfunding, it is the Nigerian people.”
He lamented that the agency was being grossly underfunded but assured that the committee would intensify its oversight functions with the aim of strengthening the Bureau to build and sustain an efficient procurement system that meets international best practices.
According to him, “The House of Representatives and indeed the National Assembly is not only
poised to ensure timely passage of annual budgets but also to ensure that budget should have a direct impact on the citizenry and the nation at large. It should impact on the productive capacity of Nigerians with a view to creating wealth and opportunities for all and sundry”.
In his contribution, a member of the Committee, Hon Benjamin Kalu, said that the most important aspect of the Bureau was monitoring and evaluation and that the Bureau was not embarking on trips to monitor projects.
He also said that he was surprised that the Director General was not worried about being underfunded.
Members of the committee were unanimous in the agreement that the BPP can not meet any of its mandates with its allocation.
In his response, the Director General of the Bureau Mr Mamman Ahmadu said that only 49% of its 2022 budget has so far been released to the bureau
On how he copes with underfunding, the Director General said that he had been working within its budget with many challenges.
According to him,” We can’t pretend about this, there is less money and more work. We’ll do the best we can, give the lean resources available for us to work with.”
He added that the agency identifies projects that were not performing and focuses its surveillance on them.
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