Reps to investigate alleged indiscriminate issuance of certificate by BPP

The House of Representatives on Wednesday resolved to investigate an alleged indiscriminate issuance of a Certificate of No Objection by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).

This followed the adoption of a motion presented by a lawmaker from Cross Rivers State, Peter Akpanke, at the plenary in Abuja.

In his presentation, Akpanke said the BPP was authorised to issue a certificate of no objection to contracts awarded by relevant procurement entities based on the provisions of sections 6(1)(c) and 16(1)(b) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007,

He said the powers vested in the Bureau were to ensure compliance with the letters and spirit of the Public Procurement Act.

The lawmaker said: “It is also to ensure that the government gets value for money, contracts awarded are within relevant thresholds backed by budgetary allocation.

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“The Bureau of Public Procurement has failed to comply with the mandatory post– procurement audit as required by Section 5(p) of the Public Procurement Act 2007.

“The Bureau has consistently engaged in under-hand dealings in the grant of “Certificate of no Objection,” thus abusing the power to make pecuniary gains and increasing incidences of abandoned and failed projects across the country.”

In his ruling, the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, directed the House Committee on Public Procurement to investigate the matter and report back within six weeks for further legislative action.

He also ordered the committee to consider the biannual reports submitted in the last six years and make its findings known to the public.

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