CPPE demands accountability from states

Federal Government’s efforts to plug leakages in public spending have yielded over N1.5 trillion in savings in the last 18 months.

This follows tighter price benchmarking, digital compliance and stricter procurement controls to reshape the management of government contracts.

The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Adebowale Adedokun, revealed the development in Lagos over the weekend, signalling a growing emphasis on value for money in public expenditure as the government faces increasing pressure to optimise scarce resources and deliver more infrastructure and public services.

Adedokun said the savings were achieved through ongoing reforms aimed at curbing procurement inflation, closing procedural loopholes, and ensuring that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) obtained better value for the funds allocated to them.

He spoke at a three-day capacity development workshop organised by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) in collaboration with the BPP, with the theme, “Driving Excellence Through Transparency, Compliance, and Efficiency.”

The workshop brought together senior management and executive staff of the NDIC to strengthen their understanding of procurement regulations and improve compliance with public procurement standards.

According to the BPP boss, the reported N1.5 trillion savings therefore offer a fresh perspective on the Federal Government’s fiscal consolidation efforts, as reducing the cost of government contracts effectively creates additional fiscal space without necessarily increasing revenue.

The N1.5 trillion reported savings also raises the stakes for the next phase of the reform, as the sustainability of the savings will depend on whether digital controls, benchmarking and compliance mechanisms are consistently applied across MDAs.

MEANWHILE, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has called for greater accountability at the subnational level, urging citizens to demand measurable development outcomes from state governments.

This follows the significant expansion of their fiscal space through higher statutory allocations and, in many cases, stronger internally generated revenues.

The Centre also called for a review of trade policy to ensure that domestic productive capacity is supported, saying that industries and agricultural producers with credible local capacity deserve calibrated protection against unfair import competition, while producers should retain competitive access to critical inputs that are not adequately available locally.

In a statement, the Chief Executive Officer, Dr Muda Yusuf, highlighted the economic reform scorecard presented by the Minister of Finance yesterday, commending the minister for providing greater clarity on the fiscal and macroeconomic outcomes of the reforms and addressing important concerns in public discourse.

He added that such transparency was critical to the credibility of reform, particularly welcoming the minister’s balanced acknowledgement of both the gains and the adjustment costs of the reforms.

According to Yusuf, the reforms have delivered macroeconomic gains, including stronger government revenues, a more stable FX market, improved external reserves, an expanded trade surplus and recovered investor confidence.