The Federal Government said on Monday that everything was ready for the implementation of debarment procedure in its procurement process.
The Director General of Bureau of Public Procurement , Mr Emeka Ezeh, made the plan known in Abuja at a one-day stakeholder’s workshop on the presentation of Debarment Procedure.
Eze said the move was to ensure effective implementation of the Public Procurement Act 2007.
“For the successful implementation of the public procurement Act 2007, the bureau has developed a debarment procedure after other international good practises that currently exist elsewhere across the globe.
“The proposed debarment procedure is one of the mechanisms developed by the bureau to punish procurement related corrupt activities and inculcate the required discipline in Nigeria’s public procurement system,’’ he said.
Eze said the step would “ultimately improve the way to do business to meet international good practices’’.
He said the process was not new in the procurement value chain across the globe but had been implemented by other countries, even in Africa.
Eze said that the U.S. debarment process was among the oldest and its grounds included anti-trust, tax evasion, false statements and bribery in procurement related activities.
He listed the countries that had established their own systems as Kenya, South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Zimbabwe, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Denmark Senegal, among others.
“In 2007, Nigeria also adopted cross-debarment system in the case of Messrs Lahmeyer International, which was debarred by the World Bank.”
He said the Federal Government through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation circular No. SGF/OP/I/S.3?VII?814 of Jan. 19, 2007 concurrently debarred Messrs Lahmeyer international in Nigeria.
“Therefore, what the bureau is trying to implement is not new as it already exists in other climes where the public procurement law has been implemented,’’ he said.
He said the key objective of the debarment procurement was to ensure prevention and deterrence.
Eze advised contractors and service providers, who wished to continue doing business with the Federal Government, to put in place anti-corrupt mechanisms to avoid debarment.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. Ayim Pius Ayim, said the forum was a commendable one to ensure effective implementation of the law.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Special Duties, Mrs Jamila Shuara, the SGF thanked the bureau for its efforts and urged stakeholders to make valuable contributions to ensure a robust country debarment procedure.
A former Head of Service of the Federation, Mr Steve Oronsaye, said the continuous reform of the procurement procedure would help government to have value for money spent.
Also, the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Dr Nwanze Okidegbe, said that debarment procedure was important and should be encouraged.
He urged stakeholders to familiarise themselves with the procedure and make important input to the process.
