Anti-corruption Bodies should Oversee Budgets from Inception Instead of Post-misuse, Opines BPP DG
Adebowale Adedokun, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has advocated for anti-corruption agencies to commence budget monitoring from the outset, rather than intervening only after funds have been misappropriated.
Adedokun stated this in Abuja on Wednesday during the national conference on public accounts and fiscal governance, themed ‘Fiscal Governance in Nigeria: Charting a New Course for Transparency and Sustainable Development.’
He urged a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s project financing framework, emphasizing that initiating any project without securing complete funding contravenes international best practices.
“There are projects valued at N10 billion or N5 billion, yet only N300 million is allocated. This indicates that I will be asked for further appropriation or to incur a variation. Such practices are wasteful and unacceptable,” he remarked.
The BPP chief highlighted that several federal projects have persisted for years without tangible progress, while they continue to receive annual budget allocations.
“In accordance with global standards, a project must possess funding from commencement to completion prior to execution. However, contracts are awarded without funds here, which blatantly violates the Procurement Act,” he stated.
Adedokun disclosed that the BPP has identified instances where contracts were awarded and executed without any funding, deeming the practice illegal.
He reiterated that anti-graft agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Fiscal Responsibility Commission, and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), should commence fund tracking from the inception of the budget cycle, rather than waiting for projects to stall or falter.
“To effectively combat waste and corruption, we must begin monitoring at the onset of the budget cycle, not after projects have failed or funds have been misused,” he asserted.
He denounced the judiciary’s failure to convict public officials for procurement violations, despite substantial evidence provided by oversight agencies.
“In the past seven months, the bureau has identified close to 500 infractions. Many necessitate prosecution and judicial pronouncements, yet when does the judiciary issue any convictions? Individuals continue to engage in misconduct because they are aware they will not face repercussions.
“We have yet to impose sanctions for improper conduct. This must change,” he insisted.
He implored lawmakers and governmental bodies to infuse prudence and discipline into all budgetary and procurement processes.
Adedokun advocated that ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) should be mandated to furnish verifiable evidence of prior budget utilization before approval of a new budget is granted.
“Let them empirically demonstrate their actions with the previous project before we sanction another,” he urged.
