Date Published: 08/28/09

No deal on corruption, Amaechi tells public officials

FOR all cadre of public officials in the Rivers State axis of the Niger Delta, the state Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, has warned that his administration will not shield any of them tainted with corruption.

The governor says his decision to implement the Public Procurement Law in the state is aimed at checking massive abandonment of government projects, misuse and embezzlement of public funds through deliberate frustration of developmental efforts.

Amaechi made this public while speaking at an enlightenment seminar on Public Procurement in Rivers State organized by the state Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) in Port Harcourt, the state capital, yesterday.

The governor, who said the Public Procurement Law assigns personal responsibilities to public officers, civil servants and agencies of government by enlisting strict compliance to its provisions, noted that the law also prescribes punishment for non compliance.

Amaechi observed that heinous crimes such as militancy and decadence in society are largely due to failure of government to provide social security for her citizens in the form of basic infrastructure, emphasizing that the procurement law requires honesty and fairness in a manner that secures value for money.

Consequently, he said, tendering process should be taken seriously and appropriately in line with project specifications, while the process of contract awards should be open in compliance with the provisions of the law.

“To award contract, the contracting authorities should ensure that bidders have regard for statutory provisions relating to minimum pay, legally binding industrial and sectoral agreements as well as local content”, the governor said, stressing that evidence of suspected collusion in tendering should be made to invalidate the process.

He explained that apart from the Public Procurement Law of 2008, the State Government is awaiting the due passage into law of the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, the Financial Control and Management Bill as well as the Public-Private Partnership in Infrastructural Development (PPP) bill.

The Vice President, African Region, World Bank, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, who delivered the keynote lecture on Good Governance:  the Place of Public Procurement Legislation noted that quality leadership and integrity should be the driving force for government.

Ezekwesili opined that budgetary provisions should be targeted at human capital development and commended the State House of Assembly for the passage of the Public Procurement Law.

She recalled that the Rivers State Governor was in her team when the Federal Law on Public Procurement was being package and congratulated Governor Amaechi for embarking on the process that would engender transparency and accountability.

In his Goodwill message, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Tonye Harry said the lawmakers owe it as a responsibility to support the executive arm through proper legislative framework, expressing satisfaction that members of the bureau are people of integrity who can hardly be influenced.

The Chairman of the Board of Director of the State Public Procurement Bureau, Reverend Precious Omuku said the objective of the seminar is to introduce new regime in government contracting and procurement, created by the procurement law of 2008.

Omuku also stated that the law aims at ensuring that public money is utilized for the benefit of the people, adding that the process is meant to check corruption, and enthrone transparency in the conduct of government business.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Occasion, Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte (rtd) said good governance demands equitable distribution of economic resources for the welfare of the people and lauded Governor Amaechi for insisting on the Due Process Law practiced globally.