By Collins Yakubu-Hammer
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, has given nod to the partnership request from Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) on reducing poverty through procurement strategy.
Idris gave the nod when the Director-General of the organisation, Dr Adebowale Adedokun paid him a courtesy visit on Thursday in Abuja.
The Minister commended Adedokun for reducing time for procurement process at the Bureau to within 20 working days, adding that it is a good innovative.
“I think BPP is showing us the way that things can be done in a transparent, accountable and efficient manner. And also, deliver on the promises made by government.
“We sincerely feel happy and great that someone like you has been appointed to this position.
“We are going work with you to deliver on the mandate of the Renew Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
“I am pleased and note with particular your strategy to use procurement to reduction poverty in the country. I think, this is key.
“Before now, people see procurement process or what they do at BPP as a stumbling block to getting contracts, supplies, or whatever. I think that the procurement process that the BPP has put in place now will bringing efficiency.
“On the issue of asking us not to vet. Actually, we don’t really vet here. We only rearrange. It is not the responsibility of the Information Ministry or anybody producing any journal to vet anything.
“The agents, user, ministries, and agencies themselves know what they want. And if they know what they want, someone should not tell them how they want it,” Idris said.
The Minister stressed that, the necessary thing to do is to admonished them to fit that need into the guidelines that are set up by governments to ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency.
“Ministry of Information and National Orientation will help to propagate your new strategies and innovations at the BPP. Also, we can do it via the regular ministerial press briefings”.
“Before now, issues of procurement have been shrouded in some form of mystery. I am glad that you are unravelling this now, making it public. There is really nothing to hide.
“So our job is actually intertwined; while you are working to ensure efficiency in this procurement process, we are also working here to see that we give timely efficient information and also help people to understand what you are actually doing.
“We have platforms like the News Agency of Nigeria, Nigerian Television Authority, Voice of Nigeria, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and the National Orientation Agency. You can leverage on them to propagate your good works, Idris said.
Speaking earlier, Adedokun accompanied by his management staff, said the purpose of their visit was to inform the Minister that BPP has changed.
“We are here to tell you that we are a tool for good governance. BPP is an instrument that can deliver timely completed projects in any sector.
“BPP is an institution that plays a critical role at ensuring that every single vision under the Renewal Hope Agenda comes to reality.
“We see our responsibility not only to award contracts; in fact, our responsibility is about 19 or more that the law allows us to perform.
“So, we are determined under our leadership to promote good governance and ensure value for money, fairness, accountability and give opportunities to all levels of bidders in this country.
“We intend to work closely with the media and this wonderful ministry to propagate all what government wants us to do by ensuring that procurement itself, which is the heartbeat of good governance is allowed to thrive.
“We want to deliver to Nigerians a procurement process that will reduce poverty and improve work practice; a good procurement that will improve employment generation and attract direct foreign investment,” Adedokun said.
The BPP D-G explained that the organisation would be moving into electronic procurement, to make it easy for people in sokoto, Enugu, Calabar, Ogun and other places. They don’t have to travel long distances to Abuja.
“From 2025 budget, we intend to ensure that all procurement processes are completed within the first half of the year. Together with the Information Ministry, we can go to the field to check what is being implemented
“So, it is no longer going to be people coming to us by the month of November to look for Certificates of No Objection; that will not happen again.
“Everybody must complete their procurement processes within the first half of the year to enable us account to Nigerians.
“We also intend to deploy categorisation and classification of consultant contractors and service providers; what that means is, we intend to grow the local contractors we want them to grow at moving from one grade level to another,” he said.
NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA