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By Tracy Moses
The Director General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Adebowale A. Adedokun, has raised concerns over widespread irregularities in Nigeria’s capital project implementation, warning that ill-funded and poorly coordinated projects are fueling corruption and fiscal indiscipline.
Speaking at the National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance on Wednesday, organized by the Public Accounts Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, Adedokun called for urgent reforms in project financing and strict enforcement of procurement laws.
He criticized the recurring trend of awarding major projects without adequate budgetary provision, describing it as a major avenue for waste and abuse.
“It’s disheartening to see ₦10 billion projects receiving just ₦300 million in annual allocations. This sets the stage for cost variations, delays, and repeated budgeting, which only encourages fiscal recklessness,” he said.
Adedokun noted that many federal projects have dragged on for over 20 years—some dating back to 2000—yet still attract annual budgetary allocations despite little or no tangible progress.
He condemned the persistent violation of global standards in public finance, particularly the principle that capital projects should only commence after full funding is secured.
“Internationally, projects don’t begin without full financing. But here, contracts are awarded without any real funding. This clearly contravenes the Public Procurement Act,” he asserted.
According to him, the BPP has recently uncovered several instances where contracts were awarded and even executed without budgetary backing—jeopardizing the 2024 budget’s implementation.
To tackle this, Adedokun urged accountability agencies like the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and others to begin oversight from the budget planning phase, not after funds have been released or projects have failed.
“If we are serious about fighting corruption and curbing waste, monitoring must start from the planning stage, not post-disbursement,” he emphasized.
He also expressed frustration with the judiciary for failing to convict violators, despite overwhelming evidence of procurement breaches submitted by oversight agencies.
“In just seven months, we’ve documented nearly 500 procurement breaches. Many are prosecutable, but there’s been no accountability. Why are convictions so elusive?” he asked.
Adedokun warned that the absence of consequences only emboldens wrongdoers and weakens faith in public institutions.
“Offenders continue to break the rules because there’s no deterrent,” he said.
He called on the National Assembly and government agencies to entrench fiscal discipline by enforcing transparency and demanding measurable outcomes from previous appropriations before approving new funds.
“Let MDAs provide data, what did they achieve with the last budget? That should be the benchmark for new allocations,” he said.
Concluding, the BPP boss urged an end to the practice of inserting underfunded projects into the national budget, noting that it results in endless, incomplete projects and undermines efficient service delivery.