Don Urges Campaigns On Procurement Law

Worried by the rate of
irregularities in the procurement system in Nigeria, which has paved way for poor execution of public infrastructure, a university don, Dr Laz. Ojigi, has called for extensive sensitization of the public across the country on the public precument law.
Ojigi, a lecturer in the Land Surveying department of Ahmed Bello University (ABU) Zaria, who disclosed this to The Tide on the sideline of a public forum in Port Harcourt recently, said the sensitization was necessary to enable people be acquainted with the law.
He said such sensitisation will also keep public officers on their toes stressing that the more people know their rights, the more they stand up to resist those that will want to interfere in the procurement process.
The don identified political interference as a factor militating against effective application of the Law and urged politicians to stay away from the procurement process and allow transparency to prevail.
“If the procurement bureau at the federal or state levels is allowed to carry out its functions without undue interference, the transformation programme will succeed.
“The more people are sensitized on the procurement laws, the more the system will be allowed to work in the country”, he said.
Ojigi also said that the principle of due process could only be entrenched in the procurement process if people understood and obeyed the law, adding that proper contract execution will be achieved, without short-cuts.
He, however, urged state governments that were yet to domesticate the law to quickly do so and ensure its enforcement.

Corlins Walter