The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has said it has commenced the process of amending procurement Act to bring it up to date with current realities.
BPP also called on government agencies to emulate the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) in capacity building and compliance with procurement processes.
Speaking at a Management Retreat by the NDIC in collaboration with the BPP, the Director General of BPP, Mamman Ahmadu noted that the procurement act, which was enacted in 2007 is riddled with challenges presented by changing times.
Ahmadu who was represented by BPP Director, Compliance, Certification and Monitoring, Ishaq Yahaya, noted that the BPP is already in talks with the National Assembly and is also in the process of crafting an executive bill to that effect.
“The Public Procurement act was enacted in 2007 which is over a decade and we know thy there are certain challenges and issues that are in this act. As a result we are in the process of presenting an executive bill to the National Assembly for amendment in order for us to ease some of the challenges that we have seen in the act.
“We are also in the process of improving our billing documents this is already on going and we are going to have billing documents that will address the procurement that conventional documents do not address such as information and communication technology procurement, framework agreement and the like.
“We are also, in line with the objective d the Public Procurement Act which is efficiency and value for money in the process of building an e-procurement platform.”
This, he said, would cut back on physical engagement and improve efficiency.
He commended the management of the NDIC, noting that it is the first agency in the country to build capacity of its staff on the latest issues in procurement procedures in 2022.
“The NDIC is the first agency of the federal government that is starting this year on this capacity building initiative. Starting early is commendable because that means they will be early to plan and early to achieve their objectives, ”he said.
On his part, the Managing Director of the NDIC, Mr Bello Hassan, noted that the retreat had become necessary so as to engage the BPP as well as keep abreast with the development in the Procurement processes such as the recently published upward review of approval Threshold and its implications on Procurement.