A civil society organization, the Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative (PRADIN), has raised concerns over the continued non-inauguration of the National Council for Public Procurement (NCPP), saying the situation could undermine the effective implementation of Nigeria’s public procurement reforms.
The group said the absence of the council had created gaps in the governance and oversight structure established under the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007.
In a statement, PRADIN’s National Coordinator, Mohammed Bougei Attah, described the situation as a setback to the country’s procurement reform agenda and alleged that it had left the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) operating without its supervising council.
According to Attah, the absence of the NCPP could result in regulatory and oversight challenges, particularly because the council is responsible for policy direction and oversight under the procurement framework.
He identified what he described as a “regulatory paralysis,” a “legitimacy crisis,” and a loss of accountability among government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) as some of the implications of the council’s non-inauguration.
Attah also alleged that the situation could create an environment conducive to procurement-related corruption and affect public service delivery and citizens’ confidence in government institutions.
“70 per cent of public-sector corruption is now linked to procurement,” he claimed, without providing a source for the figure.
PRADIN called for attention to the institutional gaps surrounding public procurement and urged relevant authorities to address the situation in order to strengthen transparency, accountability, and oversight in the procurement process.
