EFCC PUSHES FOR BPP ACT AMENDMENTS TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST CORRUPT OFFICIALS

Babatunji Wusu –

One reform that the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) Act has been asked for is by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The commission stressed that efforts to prosecute dishonest officials have not been aided by the current legislation.

Because there have been few notable prosecutions under the BPP Act since its commencement, according to EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede, the Act has to be restructured in order to bolster the anti-corruption movement.

The request for a thorough overhaul came up at the EFCC Chairman’s meeting at the Abuja headquarters with the BPP management team, which is led by Mamman Ahmadu.

The EFCC boss said, “Over the years, you have been able to define certain scopes that are helping to drive our contract and procurement award processes, but we still notice that there is still much more to be done.

“In fact, the law has not been fully operationalized. We also discovered that the law as it is has not aided prosecution much. It has to be reviewed.

“I am not sure that I can remember any specific case where we secured a conviction using the provisions of the Bureau of Public Procurement Act. I am not sure that the EFCC has secured any conviction using the BPP Act.

“If we really mean business about sanitizing our contract and procurement award processes, we have to do something about the BPP Act and review it in such a way that it can address some of these concerns.”

The Chairman of the EFCC voiced concerns regarding the BPP’s Certificate of No Objection issuance process and recommended a review of its protocols.

He underlined how crucial it is for the BPP and EFCC to work together in order to prevent corruption.

Olukoyede emphasized how common corruption incidents are in contract and procurement processes and how crucial it is to solve these problems in order to implement effective anti-corruption measures.