CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Nigeria gained independence from the
British Government in 1960. Between 1960 and 2007, she has passed
through Military and Civilian governments. The military governments rule
with decrees while the civilian governments govern by the constitution
and the laws made by the legislature. Both [military or civilian
governments] engage in business transaction of which the greater part is
the award of contracts (Ezekwesilli, 2004). Before 2007, there was no
statutory provision that directly regulate the award of public contracts
in Nigeria and the result is that the award of contract becomes an
avenue by which the government functionaries reward their friends and
cronies and by which they too amass wealth. Most of the rich business
men that we have in Nigeria today make their money through contracts
that are awarded to them in the past by the governments, whether
military or civilian government it is the same (Emeka, 2009).
Disgusted by the depth of corruption in
the procurement system and its effects on the economy, the Federal
Government commissioned the World Bank in 1999 in collaboration with
some Private Sector Specialists to review the country’s public sector
procurement structure, including the existing legal framework,
organizational responsibilities and capabilities, and present procedures
and practices, including how these may differ from the formal rules and
procedures.
However on the 4th of June 2007, the
then president of Nigeria President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua signed into law
the Public Procurement Act (PPA) which is the first procurement law in
the history of Nigeria. The purpose of the Act is to ensure
transparency, accountability, competitiveness, value for money and
professionalism in the public sector procurement system (Emeka, 2009).
The Act provides for the establishment
of the National Council on Public Procurement (NCPP) and the Bureau of
Public Procurement (BPP) as regulatory authorities responsible for
oversight, management and monitoring of public procurement practices and
system. Though the new legal regime takes effect immediately as it
should, lack of total commitment on the path of the federal government
to fully comply with the regulations enshrined in the Act was observed
(Emeka, 2009).
The problem lies with the issue of
government involvement, whether they (government functionaries) should
disengage from procurement process or not is an underlying question the
government is not comfortable with. The argument of the government
functionaries is that they must be involved in the procurement process
in order to safeguard public resources and maintain transparency and
accountability (FMF, 2008).
As of today, the greatest challenge for
the enforcement of procurement law in Nigeria is the involvement of the
government functionaries in the procurement process and this is possible
because the government has not fully implemented the provisions of the
Act. Should the government who initiated the enactment of the Act fail
to fully implement it. That lackadaisical move on the part of the
government is worrisome but not unpredictable. A clue to the reason
behind their conduct could be deduced from the history of the PPA
itself. It takes the government almost seven years to enact this law.
It was also discovered that partial
implementation or dragging of feet in enacting the law is actuated by
the desire of the political class in the government not to lose the
means to award contracts to their cronies. This study is examining the
probems and solutions of the 2007 public procurement Act on transparency
and accountability.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Nigeria’s poor economic performance
overtime is largely attributable to lack of transparency and
accountability as well as widespread corruption (Olowu, 1993). The State
and its public bureaucracy are largely to blame for the phenomenon
(Aduba, 2004). There have been existing open abuses to rules and
standards in the award and execution of public contracts in Nigeria.
These were evident in over-invoicing, inflation of contract costs, and
proliferation of white-elephant projects and diversion of public funds
through all kinds of manipulation of contract system. The regulatory
bodies that were set up to ensure compliance with laid down rules and
regulations on procurement and award of contracts in the public sector
appeared ineffective. This resulted in a high level of corruption and
enormous wastage of public resources, lack of transparency,
accountability, fairness and openness. The situation made foreign and
even local investors to lose confidence in the Nigerian economy. It must
be noted that the prevailing high level of corruption was closely
linked up with the public sector procurement systems, and considering
that about ten percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) must pass
through the procurement systems. It then became imperative that the
public procurement systems must be reformed if Nigeria must achieve
economic growth and developmental strides which is the reason for this
study.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the objectives of this study:
- To examine the problems of the 2007 public procurement act on transparency and accountability.
- To determine solutions that will ensure transparency and accountability in the 2007 public procurement act.
- To identify the factors limiting the implementation of the 2007 public procurement act.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- What are the problems of the 2007 public procurement act on transparency and accountability?
- What are the solutions that will ensure transparency and accountability in the 2007 public procurement act?
- What are the factors limiting the implementation of the 2007 public procurement act?
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following are the significance of this study:
- The outcome of this study will educate the general public especially
the political stakeholders on the benefits accruable from the 2007
procurement act with emphasis on its problem and solution in ensuring
transparency and accountability in executing public contracts.
- This research will be a contribution to the body of literature in
the area of the effect of personality trait on student’s academic
performance, thereby constituting the empirical literature for future
research in the subject area.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This study will cover the details,
problems and solutions to the 2007 procurement act in ensuring
transparency and accountability in implementing public contract.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint-
Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in
sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in
the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The
researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic
work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the
research work