Capacity, welfare, justice will curb corruption in procurement — Expert
By Magdalene Ukuedojor
A procurement expert, Builder Olatunji Adekoya, says constant capacity building, strengthened welfare of officers and a speedy justice system will tackle corruption in Nigeria’s procurement processes.
Adekoya said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, at the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards (SPESSECE) Programme of Ahmadu Bello University.
“Number one, training, bringing up capacity for the procurement officers, so that they will be able to identify what is wrong and do what is right.
“Another thing is the willingness of government because whichever way you look at it, corruption in this nation, 90 per cent of them is through procurement.
“Because we have seen situations whereby some people will be caught in the web, that they have done this in procurement, they have done one thing or the other, but at the end of the day you see them moving freely.
“It’s not giving good signals to others. Others will feel, oh, if we steal or if we do something against the procurement act, we will still be walking freely.”
He commended the World Bank SPESSECE ABU programme and those in other centres for enhancing the capacity of procurement officers across Nigeria.
Adekoya harped on welfare, noting that meagre pay entices public servants to corrupt practices.
“And another thing again is taking care of those people in procurement, or even civil servants generally.
“Their salary now cannot take them home, and when they retire, it is even as if they are being ignored.
“Those people that work in procurement and other departments, by the time they retire, what do they live upon?
“Is it the meagre amount they are paying them? A director will retire and they pay the director less than N150,000. What will N150,000 do in this present day?
“So, for them to curb all these things, the people must be sure that while they are in service, they are well taken care of, and while they retire, they will still be taken care of.” (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
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