Senate Requests Tinubu To Present BPP Act Amendment Bill

Babatunji Wusu –

Godswill Akpabio, the leader of the 10th Senate, has placed a crucial call to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, asking that an amendment bill to the Bureau of Public Procurement Act be submitted.
This statement was delivered at the 700-kilometer, ₦15 trillion Lagos-Calabar highway project’s groundbreaking ceremony.

Akpabio emphasized the pressing necessity for this legislative change, pointing out that inadequacies in the public procurement system are causing projects all around the country to be improperly budgeted.

He claims that these shortcomings in budgeting have led to the cancellation of more than 14,000 projects nationwide, indicating a serious void in the country’s growth plan.

“The flawed budgeting processes have hindered the completion of numerous key projects, which is why it’s imperative to amend the Bureau of Public Procurement Act,” Akpabio stated.

He emphasized that enhancing the Act would streamline procurement processes and ensure more efficient resource allocation and use, ultimately reducing the high incidence of project abandonment.

He said “A few days ago we were debating and we came to the conclusion that we must go ahead to amend the BPP Act.

“A situation where you want to construct a road of ₦500bn and you start by putting ₦2billion this year, it means you will finish the job in 50 years.

“So, we must be in a position to budget in a way that we also look at the tenure of presidency and that of the federal government otherwise, most of the reasons why we have over 14,000 projects in Nigeria is because of budgeting.

“The budgeting process is totally flawed. So, Mr President, the executive must bring an amendment bill of the BPP Act so that we amend it and ensure that every project you start will be completed in record time with five years from today.

“That’s our commitment.”