The Acting Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Alhaji Atahiru Ibrahim has stated that the Scheme, as a responsible public institution, will continue to ensure strict adherence to the public procurement rules in the execution of its projects, in accordance with the requirements of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).
He gave the assurance at the opening of a 2-day retreat for the management staff of NHIS, designed to bring them up to date with the Fundamental Principles of Effective Procurement, held in Keffi, Nassarawa state, recently.
Alhaji Atahiru noted that process abuse was as critical and intolerable as financial fraud under public procurement, stressing that it has been a major cause for clashes with the law by some Chief Executives and other decision makers in public service.
This, according to him, underlined the necessity for the retreat, as a platform for those associated with procurement activities in the organisation to acquire the appropriate skills and knowledge for effective performance.
Attahiru expressed the commitment of the new management in the Scheme to plug all administrative and technical loopholes that make organisations vulnerable in the process of procurement activities.
This, he said, was part of initiatives to protect the institution now and in the future, as efforts are continuing to reposition it for credible, transparent and responsible discharge of its corporate obligations.
In his remarks at the occasion, the General Manager, Procurement Depatrment, Mallam Lawal Tinau emphasized that a cardinal objective of the retreat was both to ease and get right the process of procurements in the Scheme.
In addition, he said that it is also expected that the task of the Procurement Department will be further simplified, when the various heads of the user departments are sufficiently familiar with the rules and procedures guiding the procurement process.
In a presentation titled ‘Overview of Public Procurement,’ the Director of Special Procurement (BPP), Engineer Eze Obasi commended the Management of the Scheme for being among the few agencies seeking additional knowledge about public procurement rules.
According to him, BPP is a regulatory agency charged with the mandate, among others, to support agencies of government to obtain and practice safely, the rudiments and processes of public procurement in the country in order to avoid infringement on procurement laws.
Obasi stated that the agency was established in 2007 to ensure strict adherence to procurement laws, following discovery by the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo that procurement processes in the country were not open, competitive or transparent.
He gave the stern warning that infringement on procurement laws is the easiest and quickest way to go to jail, therefore calling for attitudinal change with respect to procurement practice, adding that when our attitudes conform to our codes of conduct, we will be free of corruption, which goes beyond unwholesome acquisition of money to include doing things that deny others of their due benefits.
Highlights of the areas of focus at the retreat include Advert Requirement in Public Procurement, Fundamental Principles of Examination/Evaluation of Bids, Complaints Procedures/Administrative Review under the PPA 2007, as well as Risk and Common Issues in Public Procurement Process.
