PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE

Iliyasu Gashinbaki argues why forensic experts and auditor general for the Federation must be members

On Thursday, November 16th, 2023, the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN) held a World Press Conference to mark this year’s International Fraud Awareness Week. The focus was on the urgent need for the federal, state and local governments to review their procurement laws to stop the massive leakages in the process.  Little did we know at the time that the federal government was already thinking in the same direction. 

It was, therefore, with happiness that the Institute received the news of the inauguration of a committee barely a week later. Precisely, on Thursday, November 23rd, 2023, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, inaugurated a committee to review the Public Procurement Act, 2007. This is a very commendable move by the Tinubu led administration. I must note that the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria has long before now, being in the vanguard of the drive for the review of the ACT enacted 16 years ago.

It is important to note that the committee has a solid team, no doubt consisting of the Federal Minister of Finance & Coordinating Minister of the Economy (Chairman); Federal Minister of Budget & National Planning (member); Director General, Bureau of Public Procurement (member); Representative of the World Bank (member); Messrs. KPMG (Technical Consultants) and the Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs Office (Member/Secretary). But conspicuously missing from the committee are two vital and integral experts, who play a pivotal role in upholding transparency, accountability, and integrity within the governance framework. They are central to the realization of a revamped and foolproof Procurement Act; these are the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation and the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN).

Constitutionally, the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation is saddled with the responsibility of auditing all government revenues and expenditures. Public procurement is, therefore, just a component or process of how government funds are spent, which falls under the traditional procurement audit functions of the Auditor General for the Federation. I am at a loss at how such a crucial government agency could be left out while constituting the Committee for reviewing the Public Procurement Act.

It is also paramount to note that the role of Forensic Experts was inadvertently omitted from the committee. The Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN), being the only professional body established by law for the regulation and training of forensic experts in Nigeria, brings specialized knowledge essential for identifying and addressing potential fraud and risks in the public procurement domain.

I am afraid, therefore, that if proper steps are not taken to rectify this glaring oversight, the outcome of the review might not be any different from the contents of the current Public Procurement Act. The Committee has been mandated to submit its report in one month, and therefore, this gives enough time for the federal government to amend this apparent lapse.

The Committee has a four – point Terms of Reference.  I will only highlight number two to show why this is necessary and pertinent. “To make recommendations that will strengthen the provisions of the Public Procurement Act to ensure Transparency, Accountability, Value for money, Efficiency and Timely delivery of works, goods and services by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).” This particular TOR is in direct alignment with the focus, mandate and functions of the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation and the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN).

Therefore, to ensure a foolproof and successful review of the Public Procurement Act, avoiding massive pitfalls to ensure that fraud associated with bid rigging, tender splitting, contract splitting, overpricing, price fixing, and emergency procurement, among others, are adequately resolved and addressed during the review, the Institute would like to recommend the following:

·       Implementing a Continuous Audit Review of the process, which the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation can easily handle as this is already part of its core functions and mandate.

·       Subjecting the entire procurement management process to end-to-end forensic analysis to crosscheck the background of parties to contracts, ways and means of renegotiating contracts in favour of the government, weeding out suspicious parties, and outright cancelling fraudulent contracts. This is a major reason why the federal government, through the SGF, should include the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria in the committee as Technical Advisors.

·       Digitalization of the entire public procurement process. The Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators (CIFCFIN), through the Diplomate of Digital Forensic, in partnership with the office of the Auditor General for the Federation, is willing to support the Committee to achieve this. Forensic experts would deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and skills to forestall all these challenges. This way, parties are notified of their obligations, failings, timelines, and all of that, as defined in the contracts, to promote accountability, transparency, timelines and value for money in real time.

We cannot treat the anomalies arising from the present Public Procurement Act with kid gloves. The statistics are alarming; according to public finance data from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the gross total Approved 2023 Government Expenditure is N34.94 Trillion, with N24 Trillion for federal government and N10.94 Trillion for states, respectively. Apart from personnel costs and some parts of the overhead expenditure, a major chunk of the 2023 Approved Budget was spent through the window of public procurement!

Another intelligence report made available to the Institute also shows that the country is losing N1.4 trillion annually due to leakages in the procurement process. This is estimated to rise to N3 trillion by 2025 if this review of the Public Procurement Act falters.

As a country and an institute with the core function of advancing forensic and fraud investigations in Nigeria, we cannot allow this to happen. This is why we are calling on the federal government to quickly incorporate the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation and forensic experts from the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria, to perform their mandate by law to support the Committee for the review of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.

Nigeria is bleeding from contract scams, procurement scams, fraudulent court judgements and other related frauds. This must stop if we want national growth and development in Nigeria. This cannot be allowed to continue by leaving out needed experts in the current Public Procurement Act review. This is an opportunity the country cannot afford to miss to have a robust Public Procurement Act immune from fraudsters.

Gashinbaki is President and Chairman of Governing Council, Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN)