The Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) is a leading non-governmental organization in Nigeria committed to promoting wider public participation in procurement governance to prevent corruption. PPDC is the strongest civil society voice in support of procurement reforms in Nigeria. PPDC was solely responsible for including a mandatory clause in the Public Procurement Act 2007 that requires NGOs and professional bodies to monitor every public procurement activity carried out at the Federal level of government in Nigeria. This clause is also being adopted by several state-level procurement legislations.

The United Nations General Assembly designated December 9 as International Anti-Corruption Day to raise awareness of corruption and promote the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). The fight against corruption requires transparency, accountability, and participation from all members of society, including governments, the private sector, civil society organizations, and the general public. The UNCAC has achieved significant successes in fostering international cooperation for the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases, enhancing asset recovery from corrupt practices, and encouraging nations to adopt preventive measures. Additionally, the convention recognizes the crucial role of civil society in the fight against corruption, contributing to its multifaceted success.

This year, PPDC is joining other stakeholders to commemorate the 2023 International Anti-Corruption Day. The theme for this year’s event is “UNCAC @ 20: Uniting the World Against Corruption”, to highlight the crucial link between anti-corruption, peace, security, and development. International Anti-Corruption Day is an opportunity for political leaders, governments, professional bodies, and advocacy groups to work together to fight corruption by promoting the event and the issues surrounding it. Corruption remains a persistent issue in Nigeria, and it is necessary to establish adequate and effective anti-corruption response mechanisms to tackle the problem.

Public procurement accounts for one-third of all government spending, which equates to more than US $13 trillion in economic value each year. Unfortunately, it is also the number 1 corruption risk for governments. The lack of transparency severely hampers efforts to increase competition, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and minority-owned businesses. One way to address this issue would be to include the valuation of contracts over time, which would provide data users with a better understanding of the expiration dates of relevant contracts. 

Furthermore, the lack of transparency makes it difficult to oversee public procurement and reduce fraud and corruption. As the world faces growing debt and inflationary pressures and a limited amount of time to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, it is more important than ever to optimize every dollar of this huge sum of public money. Public procurement is essential for building climate-resilient infrastructure, providing children with a quality education, rolling out vaccination programs, creating economic opportunities for small businesses, and more. Therefore, it is the front line of how people around the world experience their government’s ability to meet their needs.

On this year’s Anti-Corruption Day, PPDC is advocating for the following:

1. The inauguration of the Procurement Council as enshrined in the Public Procurement Act 2007;

2. Support stronger, more meaningful inclusion of civil society, academia and the private sector in the implementation of reforms and monitoring of public procurement, including through enhanced collaboration with UN country and regional programs. 

3. Strengthen transparency, integrity and accountability for awarding, granting, and managing contracts, concessions, permits and licenses in the natural resource sector. Create public, central beneficial ownership registers which include adequate, accurate and up-to-date data that is freely accessible and can be used by relevant stakeholders, as well as accountability frameworks, including conflicts of interest policies, political financing rules, and lobbying transparency.

4. That gender equality and inclusion be thoughtfully mainstreamed in anti-corruption efforts through the use of inclusive language in policy documents and by ensuring the meaningful participation of diverse groups as mentioned above during all stages of the development, implementation, and evaluation of such frameworks.

5. We call on the Nigerian government, at all levels, to promote and raise awareness about the best practices on digitization and transparency of public procurement. This includes highlighting its intersection with Sustainable Development Goals like gender equality, environmental sustainability, and economic opportunity. Various e-platforms such as PPDC’s Budeshi, Bureau of Public Procurement’s NOCOPO platform, and other similar initiatives by the government at national and sub-national levels should be utilized to achieve this.

Signed:

Jubril Shittu Agbolade  

Chief Executive Officer