Stakeholders oppose amendment to Public Procurement Act

…Citing Existing Contractual Provisions for Sanctions

By Christiana Ekpa

Stakeholders in the public procurement sector have opposed the amendment to the to the public procurement Act which seeks to punish contractors for unnecessarily delaying the completion, or abandoning projects awarded to them.
Director General of the Bureau for Public Procurement, Dr. Adebowale Adedokun and the immediate Director General of the agency, Emeka Ezeh both told the House of Representatives committee on Public Procurement that there was no need amending the law to punish contractors as such provisions are always contained in the contract.
Dr. Adedokun said the Public Procurement Act, 2007 harmonized the existing Government policies and practices by regulating, setting standards and developing the legal framework for Public Procurement in Nigeria to give room for competition and transparency.
He said “the intending amendment seeks to sanction contractors who delay in completion of contract within a stipulated time. This sanction globally is generally included in the conditions of contract and it is outside the intendment of the PPA.
The Public Procurement Act does not regulate contract implementation rather the standard condition of contract and contract of agreement regulates whatever transpires after a validly awarded contract.
“In this regard, the clauses In the contract agreement prescribing sanctions for contractors as Included in the Bureau’s Standard Bidding Documents should suffice. Therefore, the proposal to incorporate contract implementation procedures into the Public Procurement Act is overbearing and will negate the intentions of its establishment.
“The Bureau, as the regulatory body and by the powers conferred on it by the Act, has issued Standard Bidding Documents and Standard Conditions of Contract, which are of global standards and have already catered penalty for erring contractors.
“The Bureau, therefore recommends that the Committee should rather help in the proper implementation and enforcement of the existing laws by ensuring that funds for contracts awarded should be provided as and when due. This is because the solution the amendment intends to provide is not a matter of law but rather of implementations, as a procuring entity who fails to release funds to a contractor for timely completion of a project, will be guilty of the contractor’s delay in completion of the project.