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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Govt to stop award of contract in foreign currency
AN insight into the policy direction of the Federal Government and one of the core elements of the 2005 budget came from the due process office yesterday in Abuja.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesile, said that with effect from January 2005, the Federal Government would no longer award any contract in foreign currency.
Ezekwesile spoke at a pre-2005 budget session organised by the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriation. She explained that the planned localisation of payment for all contracts was among measures being taken by the government to sanitise the contract award system in the public sector.
The presidential aide told the lawmakers at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja, that the price intelligence unit was doing everything to check the lapses in contract awards and public procurement in the federal service.
Ezekwesile lamented that prior to the establishment of the Due Process Unit, no rules of contract award were respected in Nigeria. She cited the Abuja National Stadium project to buttress her position.
In the public sector, Ezekwesile said, contract costs were often inflated, declaring that through the new policy, her office had saved over N150 billion for the country.
According to her, the Abuja National Stadium Main Bowl was inflated by N5.2 billion from N16.8 billion to N22 billion.
She said that her office succeeded in pegging the cost of the stadium contract at 70 per cent the original amount.
Ezekwesile denied allegations that her office was impeding the implementation of the 2004 budget. She pointed out that the due process unit only insisted that contract awards and payments be done in line with all procedures without allowing the nation to suffer losses.
The presidential aide explained that out of the N349 billion provided in the budget for capital projects, the Ministry of finance had released a total of N196 billion while due process certificates had been issued for another set of projects worth N117.7 billion.
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