By PROVIDENCE OBUH

The on-going war against corruption in the public sector would be greatly enhanced if the Procurement Act 2007 is strictly adhered to by ministries, agencies and parastatals in the government procurement processes, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has said.

This position was part of recommendations by participants including the NESG, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Manufactures Association of Nigerian (MAN) and the Federation of Construction Industry in Nigeria (FOCI) at a one-day policy dialogue on eliminating corruption in business processes of government held at Abuja.

Other recommendations from the event which was held at the Rockview Hotel in Abuja include that “the nine essential steps of public procurement as stipulated in the Act must be transparently and sincerely observed to its logical conclusion, adding also that “conscious efforts should be made continuously to strengthen the BPP to permanently guard against contract inflation and other corrupt practices that frustrate the execution of projects.”

Participants at the public dialogue also advocated the “demonstration of leadership by example at the highest levels both in the political, public, and private sectors of the economy, noting that “strong political and international support is necessary to drive home the reform efforts in this regards.”

It was also noted that “there is a great need to de-politicize procurement, and ensure that professionals get involved in the process,” while “continuous professional training of procurement officers to close competence gaps and strengthen institutional capacity is expedient. More so, continuous capacity building programs for MDAs, NGOs, Civil Society Organizations, Professional Bodies and the general public are necessary.”

The policy dialogue which was held in association with the United Nations Global Compact Office (UNGC) is an offshoot of a collaborative partnership between the UN agency and the NESG for the much needed fight to eliminate corruption in the procurement process of government business.

Meanwhile, participants at the event agreed on the need for a “programme-based budgeting system with proper cost and benefit analysis of capital projects should be adopted.

More over, the National Assembly should accelerate annual budget approval process, and ensure that yearly budget should recognize and give priority to on-going and long term projects.”

It was recommended that “the National Assembly, as a matter of urgency, should consider all Public Accounts Report sent annually to them by the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation and recommend the appropriate sanctions.”

Participants further that it should be made mandatory for the Code of Conduct Bureau to publish the returned asset declaration forms of all relevant political and public office holders, even as there is general belief that establishing a material pricing and regulatory commission will help to ensure and update price data bank as well as materials quality control and assurance.