How FG Can Reduce Rate Of Abandoned Projects - Senator Muhammed Balogun

He also said it will broaden the membership of the National Procurement Council to include the Nigerian Institute of Architect, critical stakeholder in public sector procurement and project implementation which was inadvertently left out under the Principal Act.

Senator Balogun said this while fielding questions from journalists in his office at the senate after the bill titled: A Bill for an Act to Amend the Public Procurement Act 2007 and for other matters connected thereto, 2022 (SB. 1073) - scaled second reading

During the presentation of the lead debate Senator Kola Balogun who stood in for Senator Bwacha Emmanuel, the Chairman of the Committee, pointed out the areas where the amendment was made.

He said; "This Bill primarily seeks to address observed lapses to the extant public
procurement regulatory landscape since the introduction of the Public
Procurement Act about 16 years ago.

"To this end, the overarching objectives of this Bill is broaden the membership of the National Procurement Council to include the Nigerian Institute of Architect, a critical stakeholder in public sector procurement and project implementation which was inadvertently left out under the Principal Act.

"On the whole, the passage of this Bill would enhance transparency and bring the Nigerian
public procurement regulatory landscape at par with current global best practices.

"In the light of the foregoing, Mr President, Distinguished Colleagues, the amendment proposed by this Bill affects Sections 1, 6, 16,35,44.49, and 60 of the Principal Act. Thus, while the amendment of section 1 provides for the inclusion of the Nigerian Institute of Architects in the membership of the National Council on Procurement, the amendment of Section 6 essentially seeks to promote indigenous enterprises and local content in
tandem with the Local Content Act and Executive Order No.5 recently signed by President Muhammad Buhari.

"Similarly, the amendment of Section 16 of the Principal Act seeks to mandate the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to collate and gazette all procurement by Federal Government MDAs in respect of the preceding year not later than the 31st March of every year, indicating the status of the projects and publishing same on the official website of the BPP.

"This will aid legislative oversight of projects, public scrutiny and minimize the incidence
of abandoned projects in Nigeria. In the same vein, the amendment to section 35 seeks to increase the mobilization fees as provided for under the Principal Act from 15% to 30% and further broadens the practice of mobilization fees to cover Project consultants apart from Contractors that are ostensibly provided for under the Principal Act. It is expected that this
will allow for seamless takeoff of projects and timely implementation.

"Finally, the amendment proposed to section 44 seeks to allow for exclusivity to local professionals such as engineers, architects, quantity surveyors etc for micro, small and medium scale projects in order to develop local capacity while the amendment proposed to section 49 provides for a margin of preference to be accorded to domestic consultants and other local contractors in tandem with the Local Content Act and Executive Order No. 5. Section 60 of the Principal Act is also amended to provide for the interpretation of the concept of "Built Environment" as an emerging concept that is shaping all aspects of man- made environment such as roads, buildings, transportation which are the core preoccupation of procurement.

One of the amendments made to the Act which is the upward review of contractors' mobilisation fees from 15 to 30 per cent in Section 35 was unanimously accepted by the lawmakers

The lawmakers also said that the recommendation of the committee to review upwards the mobilisation fee from 15 to 30 percent for local contractors is insufficient.

The amendment for an upward review of 35 per cent mobilisation for local contractors was initially proposed by Jibrin Barau (APC, Kano North) and seconded by Ibikunle Amosun (APC, Ogun Central).

The Senate, however, settled for a 30 per cent review moved by Senator Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South) and seconded by Senator Rose Oko (PDP, Cross River North).