President Bola Tinubu has approved the review of the existing Public Procurement Act as a deliberate step to instill fiscal discipline in government expenditures.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided by President Tinubu at the presidential villa on Wednesday deliberated extensively on aspects considered for the review and mandated the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi to commence the process, working with a special committee comprising the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Atiku Bagudu as well as the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Mr. Wale Edun.
President Tinubu directed all Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs) to review their intended procurements as provided for in the Appropriation Act.
The President said the idea was to ensure that where there are gaps between appropriated sums and the actual amount required to execute the projects, it can be brought to the attention of both the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and the Federal Ministry of Finance.
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Speaking to State House Correspondents after the FEC meeting, Bagudu explained that, “President Bola Tinubu today in line with the desire to enhance more fiscal discipline and further demonstrate to Nigerians our commitment to serving them better, raised the issue of the reconciliation between the appropriation act, public procurement law and the fiscal responsibility act.
“FEC has set up a committee under the chairmanship of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to review the Public Procurement Act.
“After a robust discussion, the President directed that all ministries department, and agencies should review their intended procurement as provided for in the appropriation such that where there are gaps between appropriated sums and amounts required to execute the projects, it can be brought to the attention of both the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and Federal Ministry of Finance, such that the memo that the cabinet secretariat will provide to the FEC, will have clarity of where funding is expected to come from and recommendations, so as to guide effectively the Federal Executive Council decisions.
“Mr. President directed that the report of the public procurement committee be provided to him so that he can take decisions accordingly,” he adde
