CSOs Move To Tackle Corruption In Public Procurement

A group of anti-corruption civil society organisations (CSOs) have taken steps to address the menace of corruption in public procurement processes.

The groups are Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative, PRADIN in collaboration with Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ and Human and Environmental Development Agenda, HEDA.

The national coordinator of PRADIN, Mohammed Bougei Attah, who signed the statement on behalf of the group, cited a 2010 study by NGO Network, a national CSO working in the area of information management, that identified procurement corruption as responsible for over 70 per cent of total corruption in the public sector in Nigeria. The menace the group claimed appeared to be on the rise despite several investments in the fight to reduce the problem.

To set in motion practical steps and strategies towards addressing the phenomenon that will assist the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the fight against corruption, key stakeholders have been invited to a one-day roundtable to discuss, digest the critical issues, and advance a new strategy in tackling the cankerworm.

Some of the major stakeholders invited and grouped into three categories of implementer, regulators and monitors are the Bureau of Public procurement, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply management of Nigeria.

Others include the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Strategy Implementation Task Office for the Presidential Executive Order 5 and the Nigeria Society of Engineers.

Slated for tomorrow, the event is expected to draw participants from the government, professional bodies and civil society groups in an endeavour to create an avenue for synergy and partnership among stakeholders in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.