President Muhammadu Buhari has approved reductions in prior review thresholds of contracts for works from N1 billion to N500 million.
The acting Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mr Ahmed Abdu, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Monday.
According to him, this will enlarge the scope of the bureau’s regulatory activities.
Abdu said that the BPP had been appointed to serve on a four-member committee by the president to examine requests from state governments for reimbursement in their interventions in federal projects.
The committee, he said, will be chaired by the Minister of Power, Works & Housing, while other members of the committee are the ministers of education and transportation.
He said that in spite of the bureau’s efforts to cut contract costs, they were still high.
He said that the bureau would increase its price intelligence to reduce the cost of items commonly used by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Abdu assumed office at the bureau on Friday as the substantive acting Director-General (DG) being the most senior director.
He was Director, Agriculture and Water Resources Department.
The former DG, Mr Emeka Ezeh, had on Tuesday handed over to Mr Babatunde Kuye in error.
This was because Abdu had been on secondment to the Ministry of Water Resources as Director of Procurement.
The change in leadership is in line with the Federal Government’s directive for all the Chief Executives of the Federal Government agencies, who were relieved of their appointments on Monday.
Abdu said he was committed to continuing the good work of his predecessor by building on his achievements.
