Senate Amends Public Procurement Act, Prioritizes Made-in-Nigeria Goods In MDAs

Senate in plenary session

NIGERIAN Senate has passed a bill amending the Public Procurement Act, 2007 to enable locally manufactured goods take precedence over foreign goods for use in all the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the government with a view to promote local industries in the country.

The Senate Committee on Public Procurement, chaired by Senator Joshua Dariye were mandated to consider a bill seeking to make all locally goods compulsory for use in all government sectors towards resuscitating the local industries as well as promoting employment opportunities in the private sectors.

Senator Dariye explained that the bill, when assented to, will amend certain relevant sections of the 2007 Procurement Act to give preference to locally manufactured goods adding that the bill seeks to amend section 15(1) of the Act by inserting additional clauses that would close the gap created by the Act.

Similarly, the issue of disposal which is an integral aspect of procurement has been aptly captured by the amendment in the new sub-clause 1(e).

The amendment proposed by the bill in section 35 is to review upwards the mobilisation fee from 15 per cent to 25 per cent that may be paid to a supplier or contractor which the C0ommittee Chair said, was aimed at enhancing timely completion of Procurement Processes at various phases.

The Senate also approved the inclusion of Nigerian Institute of Architects and the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Survey as members of the National Council on Public Procurement to ensure quality compliance.

Speaking after passage of the bill, Senate President, Bukola Saraki commended the amendments on the PPA 2007 stating that the action was aimed at stimulating the nation’s economy by patronizing local industries adding that the legislature will monitor to ensure compliance by the executive arm of government.

“We all have a role to play to ensure that the executive complies, especially in the area of giving first priority to locally-produced goods.

“This has helped many countries to develop when they had issues of downturn in their economy. One of the things that we have done today is also trying to shorten the process of awarding contracts; this will go a long way in helping budget implementation.

“It would go a long way in ensuring that most of the funds are available as quickly as possible and jobs are actually completed. I want to commend my colleagues for passing this bill,” he said.