Contract Inflation: BPP has saved Nigeria N659 bn – DG

The Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Emeka Ezeh, says the bureau saved the country N659 billion from contracts awards between 2009 and 2014.

Ezeh said this in his paper on “Ending the scourge of abandoned projects in Nigeria”, presented in Abuja.

Ezeh said the sum amounted to the difference between the proposed sum for contracts submitted by Federal Government contractors in different ministries, departments and agencies, and what the bureau approved.

He urged the overnment to strengthen institutions like the BPP through which corruption and waste could be minimised.

Ezeh said it was not enough for the BPP Act to regulate the Federal Government. He said it was also important for states and local governments to adopt the act to curb corruption at all levels.

The DG expressed concern over the way many international companies that handled huge construction projects in Nigeria were shrinking or closing operations.

On abandoned projects, MRr. Ezeh said the three tiers of government had contributed to the trend, which he said, had led to huge waste of resources.