Lawan meets SGF Mustapha, blows hot over govt contracts

President of the Senate, Sen. Ahmad Lawan, on Monday said the nation’s public procurement procedures were short of world best practices, saying the Act will receive holistic overhaul.

Lawan also frowned at the contract performances across board saying “From stage of bidding to mobilisation, costing of any government contracts must be uniform in order to avoid imbalances and embarrassment in the processes.”

He said this when he played host to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha ,who led seven other Federal Permanent Secretaries to his office.

According to Lawan, Nigerians always stand disadvantaged with such anomalies in the procurement process.

He said there was the need to review the Public Procurement Act, NAN reports.

“The Public Procurement in Nigeria as far as I can see is not the best in the world.

“The Public Procurement must be reviewed and amended, we must see how we can make it more practical and holistic.

”The process takes time and it keeps demobilising our national budget. Those who are able to win any contract must implement the project diligently.

“Our Public Procurement committee will be a very strong committee this time around. The cost of projects in Nigeria is mostly the highest in the world.

”We cannot continue like this, not in the face of very scarce resources, so, we are going to insist that the Public procurement particularly is considered better than before.

“If there should be a purchase of buses by 10, 20 twenty ministries, the cost must be uniform so that we don’t drag into crisis on what we buy.

“Also, the market prices must be determined to ensure that we are not overcharged or over invoiced.

“The Procurement Committee when in place will make sure we work towards achieving this set agenda in order to avoid putting the public at disadvantaged position,” Lawan explained.

He also commended the SGF for bringing cordiality into the executive and legislative arms of government.

He added that the pathways of understanding among the tiers of government would ease development stride of the present administration.

Lawan assured that the Senate was ready to work closely with other arms of government and the Nigerian people to accelerate infrastructural and socio-economic developments across the country.

According to him, “The Senators in the 9th Assembly have resolved to be patriotic and focus.

“We are ready to work, I commended the Peoples Democratic Party’s(PDP) Senators, who acted patriotically during the elections of the Presiding officers and we are going to maintain the unity and appreciate the support given to us.

“We are mindful of what we say and we are more mindful of our promises to the electorate.

“Nigerians are looking for solutions and that matter to us, this is an institution I know best.

“I have spent 20 years here as lawmaker, we will put our experiences into practice and we are going to support the President Muhammad Buhari’s legacy to bring Nigerians out of poverty.

“This is the only way we can address our insecurity and achieve economy that works for every Nigerian.”

Earlier, Boss Mustapha applauded the President of the Senate for starting on a vibrant mood.

He said Nigerian project was of great importance to the present administration, and urged members of the parliament to continue to strengthen the ties with other arms of government to achieve the set agenda of the Buhari’s administration in good time.

Mustapha urged the senators to always put the nation first, promising that the executive arm was determined to ensure a successful tenure of office for the leadership of the National Assembly and its members.