The Federal
Government said yesterday it would strictly monitor and evaluate all
capital projects by its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as
a way of improving budget performance and service delivery.
Minister of
Finance, Olusegun Aganga, who disclosed this at the Procurement
Planning Sensitisation Workshop organised by the Bureau of Public
Procurement (BPP) last Thursday in Abuja, said this was part of the
strategy being adopted by government to raise the level of budget
implementation this year above the 60 percent level recorded last year.
Other strategies to
achieve a high level of budget performance in 2011 include: Adequate
planning of procurement activities within budget and on schedule;
undertaking initiatives to enhance the impact of the capital vote by
improving the allocation of capital resources to critical projects;
ensuring that key initiatives are well-funded throughout their project
lifecycles; and maintaining better control over project costs, scope,
schedules and quality.
The government is
also planning to continue building project management and service
delivery capabilities of MDAs as well as improving on existing
monitoring and evaluation systems to promote transparency and
accountability in public spending.
Mr Aganga traced
the low level of implementation of annual budgets by the three tiers of
governments in the country to lack of planning, underlining the
significance of procurement planning to enhance the quality and
efficiency of government spending on capital and other outlays as well
as delivering value for money to Nigerians.
“The level of
Budget implementation hovers around the 60 percent level. There are
various reasons for this, including the limited implementation
capability of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). However, one
of the key reasons for the present low level of implementation is a
lack of planning.
Urging the BPP to
continue to focus on the provisions of the Public Procurement Act of
2007, which recognises planning as foundation of successful projects
delivery and budget implementation,” Mr Aganga stressed the need for
planning to become central to government’s procurement process.
“In the absence of
planning, there will be no set targets or deliverables against which to
measure progress or performance. The end result of this is that the
financial outlay for the government is likely to be higher than would
be the case if projects were properly planned. Planning saves money and
ensures a high level of quality and implementation,” he said.
Anticipating a
higher level of budget performance in 2011, the Minister called for
planning of procurement activities within budget and on schedule, as
government is to introduce the principles of performance based
budgeting in the New year, by shifting its focus from mere resource
commitment to the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) towards
actual execution, delivery and performance.
“The public
procurement process must first be based on efficient procurement
planning, driven by a proper needs assessment, which entails
consideration of the entire life cycle of the project, including
identification of what is to be procured, how project needs can best be
met, the scope of goods, works or services required, the procurement
strategies or methods to be employed, the time frame for execution and
a breakdown of responsibilities for the full procurement process,” he
explained.
Identifying the
fundamental objectives of procurement planning, he said all MDAs would
be required to prepare a budget for all activities each year to be
executed within the financial year, followed with a detailed
procurement plan that would ensure that goods, works and services are
delivered in a timely and cost-effective manner.
BPP Director
General, Emeka Eze, blamed the poor performance of annual budgets on
the refusal of the MDAs to the provisions of the Public Procurement Act
of 2007, which spells out the procedures to follow in procuring goods
and services in the system.
He also said the
bureau is determined to continue to focus its attention on full
compliance with the principles, policies and guidelines for procurement
in the Act within the public sector in the country.
