Business
Public Procurement Corruption: Causes, Remedies (1)
This is a paper he presented in Port Harcourt at a forum organised by the Bureau of Public Procurement.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), “procurement is the process of identifying what is needed; determining who is the best person or organization to supply this need; and ensuring what is needed is delivered to the right place, at the right time, for the best price and that all this is done in a fair and open manner”
Public procurement procedures often are complex. Transparency of the processes is limited, and manipulation is difficult to detect. Few people becoming aware of corruption complain publicly, since it is not their own, but government money, which is being wasted. Governments at federal, state, and local levels, spend significant public resources on procurement. Procurement at all levels of government in developing countries like Nigeria typically constitutes about 45 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product (OECD, 2006). These expenditures are critical to enabling governments to deliver goods and services to citizens, but they are also extremely vulnerable to corruption.
For almost a decade now there has been a significant international focus on corruption as a threat to economic and human development. Several multilateral organizations, like the UN, the World Bank, the WTO and OECD, aims at fighting the problem. So far, however, the strategies to transform the alleged practices of a state administration from corrupt to honest and clean have failed in most cases. There are several ways to explain this persistence of corruption. The time it takes to curb the problem may have been underestimated. There may also be a failure in the adjustment of anti-corruption strategies to local conditions. And finally, the incentives to implement the necessary measures may be poor among politicians benefiting from the current system.
However, in countries where corruption is a common problem it tends to disturb the market mechanisms and impede economic development. Corruption in public procurement makes the officials or the politicians in charge, purchase goods or services from the best briber, instead of choosing the best price-quality combination. The result may be construction projects several times as costly as necessary, or the acquisition of goods not actually needed. Hence, when aggregated to a macro-economic level non-optimal choices of contractors can have noticeable effects on the economy.
Also the efforts of public officials to get into position for obtaining bribes may represent a significant cost. Gifted youth often prefer jobs in the bureaucracy instead of more scientific professions, the allocation of public funds may be biased in favour of capital intensive sectors at the expense of health and education, and laws and regulations may be introduced just in order to obtain bribes. Even worse, public sector corruption has a pervasive impact on the poor since it reduces the funding available for social services and distorts public choices in favour of the wealthy and powerful, resulting in larger income differences between rich and poor.
Corruption, as an illegal activity, is difficult to define exactly as different attitudes and customs prevail, for instance when it comes to gift-giving and bureaucratic integrity. However, this paper is mostly concerned about the clear-cut cases, where no doubt about the misuse of public office exists. This is usually the case when the following conditions are all met.
1.First, the act must be intentional and in conflict with the principle of objectivity in public service performance. This implies that the rule that is broken is precise and transparent.
2.Second, the person who breaks the rule must derive some recognizable benefit for him/herself, his family, his friends, his tribe or party, or some other relevant group.
3.Third, the benefit derived must be seen as a direct return from the specific act of “corruption”.
CAUSES
The logic of incentives makes it reasonable to assume that human greed explains most of the bureaucratic corruption. However, in many developing countries, where monthly wages for ordinary officials often are less than $100, the actual need may be an equally prevalent reason. In some cases these wages represent a capitulation wage. According to Besley and McLaren (1993) capitulation wage refers to a situation where the government “capitulates” because corruption is endemic and monitoring does not function. Thus, it makes no sense to revise salaries and the government pays very low wages, aware of the bureaucrats’ ability to manage on bribes and stealing. The bureaucrats’ demand for bribes is understandable under such circumstances. Nevertheless, it is observed in many countries that officials covering their economic need by the help of bribes do not stop when they reach an acceptable standard of living.
The supply side incentives may appear less obvious because bribes often represent a significant cost to a company. Preparing for a tender is a costly and time consuming process and the company may not trust their winning chances on legal basis alone. A bribe may thus ensure that the company obtains the government contract. Corruption may also help companies obtain a de facto monopoly situation, to retain business, to obtain secret information, to counterbalance poor quality or high price, to facilitate trade or investment, or to create demand for goods that otherwise would not have been purchased. Other motives may be to reduce political risk, to receive import licenses, to reduce taxes and attain special modifications of laws or just to induce government employees to perform their duties. Despite the secrecy in these cases, it is not difficult to exemplify incentives from the media and court cases.
The major reason for bribery in public contract assignment, however, is probably because everyone believes that everyone else is involved in such kind of business. Losing a contract because a competitor bribed the officials must be very frustrating. This problem of hidden information is reflected in the way that all the companies involved pay a bribe even if they would be better off with no corruption (prisoner’s dilemma). Hence, the companies that bribe public officials seem to forget the negative externality they impose on other firms, as well as the worsening of their economic environment. For the company involved there are several common drawbacks related to bribery. One is the information about the bribery in hand of the public officials, information applicable to hit the reputation of enterprises, the multinationals in particular. A problem is also enforcement that a bribing company has no judicial guarantee of obtaining what it has paid for (unless the courts are corrupt as well). And, once a company has established a corrupt relationship it may be confronted by unexpected demands for additional payments. Ending a corrupt relationship is often difficult because of the risk of menaces, violence and other criminal activities. Apart from this, close connections to the government may imply a risk in case of political and governmental changes.
Adebowale, is the Managing Partner, Proactive Projective Limited.
Seun Adebowale
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), in partnership with a firm, Sweetcrude Ltd., has announced detailed selection criteria for the inaugural “Champions of Nigerian Content Awards”, designed to honor outstanding contributions to local content development in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
The Tide learnt that the event, scheduled to hold 21st May, 2025, at the NCDMB’S content tower headquarters in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State, will recognize individuals and organizations that have demonstrated exceptional commitment to advancing Nigerian Content in 2024.
The Tide further gathered that the ceremony will coincide with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF), which promises to spotlighting industry excellence and contributions to national economic transformation.
A statement by the Board’s Directorate of Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination says the event has 12 Award Categories, which include, “Nigerian Content Icon of the Year”, “Nigerian Content Lifetime Achievement Award”, “Nigerian Content International Upstream Operator of the year”, and the “Nigerian Content Independent Upstream Operator of the year”.
Others are, “Nigerian Content Midstream Operator of the year”, “Nigerian Content Downstream Operator of the year”, “Nigerian Content International Service Company of the year”, Nigerian Content Indigenous Service Company of the year”, and the “Nigerian Content Innovator of the year”.
Also included are, “Nigerian Content Financial Services Provider of the year”, “Nigerian Content Media Organization of the year”, and “Women in Leadership Award for Promoting Gender Equality and Empowerment”.
According to the NCDMB, the criteria for oil and gas operators will include key and empirical benchmarks such as Production output for crude oil and gas volumes, Compliance with Nigerian Content Plans (NCPs) and Nigerian Content Compliance Certificates (NCCCs).
Other criteria are adherence to NOGICD Act reporting requirements, such as submission of Nigerian Content Performance Reports and Employment & Training Plans.
The Board’s statement added that similar criteria will apply to financial institutions, media organizations, and individuals, ensuring a transparent and merit-based selection process.
“Winners for the Nigerian Content Icon of the Year, Innovator of the Year, and Women in Leadership Award will also be selected based on measurable performance indicators.
“The Advisory Committee of Industry Titans will Oversee the process to uphold the prestige of awards. The Committee consist of distinguished experts set up to oversee nominations and validate winners”, the NCDMB said.
Members of the committee, according to the Board, include: Pioneer Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Dr. Ernest Nwapa; Secretary-General, African Petroleum Producers Organization, Dr. Omar Farouk; and former Zonal Operations Controller, DPR, Mr. Woke Akinyosoye.
The Statement quoted the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, as emphasizing that the awards aim to becoming the oil and gas sector’s equivalent of the Oscars, celebrating genuine impact rather than mere participation.
“This recognition is reserved for those who have gone beyond compliance to drive tangible growth in Nigerian Content.
“With a focus on credibility, compliance, and measurable impact, the Champions of Nigerian Content Awards is poised to set a new standard for excellence in Nigeria’s energy sector”, the NCDMB Executive Scribe said.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
Nigeria’s apex Banking institution, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has declared that Federal Government’s debt servicing increased to N696billion in January 2025.
The CBN’s recently published Economic Report revealed a precarious fiscal position, which worsened in January 2025 as debt servicing obligations exceeded total retained revenue by a wide margin.
According to the report, the Federal Government’s debt servicing obligations for the month stood at N696.27bn, while total retained revenue amounted to only N483.47bn, indicating that debt service alone consumed about 144 per cent of all government earnings.
This development highlights the growing debt burden and dwindling fiscal space facing Africa’s largest economy.
According to the report, despite slight improvements in some revenue categories, the retained earnings were grossly inadequate to cover obligatory debt repayments, exposing the government’s continued reliance on borrowing to meet basic obligations.
The report further revealed that retained revenue in January 2025 only recorded a marginal 0.89 per cent increase when compared with the N479.21bn generated in the corresponding month of 2024.
”FGN retained revenue declined in the review period, owing largely to lower receipts from Federal Government Independent Revenue and FGN’s share of exchange gain.
“At N0.48tn, provisional FGN retained revenue was 69.19 and 70.40 per cent below the levels recorded in the preceding period and monthly target, respectively”, it revealed.
While this points to stagnation rather than growth, the marginal rise was wiped out by the overwhelming debt service obligations.
The retained revenue components showed that the Federation Account contributed N167.69bn, while the VAT Pool Account delivered N90.73bn.
By: Corlins Walter
The Federal Government has announced plans to commence the payment of the outstanding N35,000 wage award arrears owed workers in the Federal Civil Service.
A statement issued by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), which was signed by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa, said the outstanding arrears will be paid in instalments, with workers set to receive N35,000 per month for five months.
It clarified that the first tranche of the wage award arrears would be released immediately after the April salary payment.
“The wage award arrears was not paid with the April 2025 salary; it will come immediately after the salary is paid”, the statement read.
The Federal Government had earlier disbursed wage awards to federal workers for five months as part of efforts to cushion the impact of economic reforms. However, five months’ arrears remained unpaid.
The AGF office further reiterated the government’s commitment to fully implementing all policies and agreements relating to staff remuneration and welfare, noting that such efforts were geared towards enhancing productivity and operational efficiency across ministries, departments, and agencies.
The N35,000 wage award was introduced in 2023 as a palliative measure to support workers following the removal of the petrol subsidy and other economic adjustments.
In January this year, the Federal Government assured workers that it would clear the arrears of the N35,000 wage award, just as it also said the government had resumed the payment of the wage award.
The government also reiterated its commitment to addressing issues in the National Minimum Wage agreement reached with the Organised Labour in 2023.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, had disclosed the government’s commitment towards implementing agreements with trade unions during separate meetings with the leadership of the Trade Union Congress and Congress of University Academics, in Abuja.
The Nigeria Labour Congress had criticised the Federal Government over the delay in the payment of the minimum wage for certain workers in the federal civil service.
Also, the Federal Government had earlier blamed the delay in payment on the prolonged approval of the 2025 budget.
By: Corlins Walter