BPP to begin e-procurement to ensure accountability

The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Emeka Ezeh, on Saturday said the bureau would commence e-procurement by April 1 to reduce human interaction in the sector.
Ezeh disclosed this at the 2016 Retreat on Public Procurement for Federal Permanent Secretaries in Lagos, with theme: “The Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007: An Effective Tool for Delivering More for Less.”
He said the bureau had decided to use technology to drive procurement processes and commence e-procurement, especially for commonly used items.
According to him, the bureau will also embark on price intelligence that will be bench-marked against its data base to achieve value for money with adjustment in periods of inflations.
Ezeh said the bureau would also use administrative and judicial processes to deal with in fractures.
He said the bureau had engaged in capacity building for procurement professionals and others in other departments.
He said there had been constant engagement with the Executives, National Assembly and Civil Society groups to build a consensus reform for the country.
Ezeh said the bureau also established centres for procurement at the Federal School of Technology in Owerri, Imo State.
He said it achieved positive developments through the Office of the Head of Service and other stakeholders.
He said government saved N680 billion through the procurement reforms between 2009 and 2014, adding that the new reforms in the sector had deepened good governance.
According to Ezeh, the aim of the retreat is to remind the permanent secretaries of their responsibilities to the nation in managing public procurement.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, said the plan to embrace e-procurement was a welcome idea, which would reduce corruption.
Oyo-Ita said the 2016 edition of the retreat was important for salient reasons, which included the monumental changes in the nation’s socio-political sphere.
Others, she added, were zero tolerance to corruption, implementation of Treasury Single Account, zero-based budgeting and capital spending to 30 per cent in the 2016 budget.
NAN.