Following a recent assessment of the procurement process of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) by the Bureau for Public Procurement, CATHERINE AGBO writes on challenges before the administration and efforts at tackling them
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Ever since the creation of Abuja over thirty years ago, the city has been undergoing construction, with the first phase of its development as contained in the Abuja Master Plan, yet to be completed. Describing Abuja as a developing city is therefore apt.
The development of the city has posed severe challenges to various administrations of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the major challenge being the financing of its projects. The projects include roads, schools, hospitals, water, transportation and other basic infrastructure required of a modern city.
Despite the fact that the FCT enjoys two budgets; the statutory budget and national priority budget, the challenge of finance has remained constant, considering the fast growth rate of the city and the citizens’ demands.
The minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed in a recent interview with journalists explained that the federal government from the national priority budget provides funds specifically for the execution of critical federal projects in the same manner it does in funding key projects across the 36 States of the federation. This is in line with the provision of decree 6 of 1976 creating the FCT, which clearly stipulates that Abuja would be treated just like every other state in the country.
Projects funded from the national budget include the completion of the Shehu Shagari presidential complex, which was awarded to Messrs Gitto Nigeria ltd in 2006, at the cost N2.65billion. Others are the on-going Airport Road and Kubwa expressway expansion awarded in 2009 at the cost of N257 billion and the Nigerian Cultural and Millennium Tower awarded in 2005 at the cost of N53.12billion, as well as the construction of the National Assembly complex Phase II, awarded in 2007 to Julius Berger Nig. Plc. According to the minister, under its statutory budget, which is usually passed by the National Assembly, the administration makes a presentation of its total spending and expected revenue, stating clearly, projects that would be executed within a particular year.
Projects captured by this budget are those initiated by the FCT administration. Some of such projects are the Galuyi-Shere and Apo resettlement housing schemes, valued at N7.47 billion and N2.56 billion respectively. About 3,153 housing units are expected to be built in these areas.?
Despite the priority enjoyed by the FCT as the nation’s capital city, and the finances made available to it from the budget, residents have had cause to complain about the slow pace of work on most projects in the FCT. A case in point is the Abuja Light Rail project and the Kubwa and Airport Road expansion projects.
On several occasions, the government has had to shift goal-post for the completion date of many of its projects as a result of this seeming slow pace of work by the contractors. Contractors have often accused the government of not financing the projects after contract award, attributing this to the slow pace of executing the work.
Recently, it was discovered that between February and July 2001 alone, total debts owed contractors by the FCT administration rose to about N64 billion.?
FCT minister, Senator Mohammed who disclosed this said the administration was however exploring various means to raise money to settle the debts. He said the sum of N40 billion raised from internally generated revenue, statutory allocation and loans from the Debt Management Office (DMO) had already been approved to offset the debts to enable contractors handling key projects complete them.?
Director of the FCT treasury department, Mr. Ibrahim Bomai in a recent interview with journalists, gave an insight into the processes employed by the administration before payments for contracts funded by the administration are made.
According to him, the FCT administration had put in place two approval stages for all contracts executed in line with the Public Procurement Act. This he said was to ensure transparency in the system.
He said that out of the N64 billion owed contractors, N40 billion would soon be paid to them, leaving the administration with a debt of N24 billion, which the administration said it had also concluded plans to pay, to boost contractors’ confidence and morale to complete their projects on schedule.
At a recent interactive session with procurement officials in the FCT administration, the director, Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP), Engr. Emeka Ezeh, accused the officials of various underhand deals in the procurement process, primarily among them, selective determination of contractors to be paid for jobs completed, as a way of facilitating kick-back from the contractors.
He stressed the need for adherence to due process certification, saying the system worked to ensure that the procurement process had been complied with in every contract award and that the prices applied were reasonable and had been properly awarded to the lowest responsive bid and progress payments were in accordance with actual work carried out.?
Ezeh further said that refusal of procurement officers to adhere to due process as stipulated in BPP Act had resulted in losses for the government. Other contractors have also alleged the same offence.
The contractors, apart from the issues of payment, have also made case for a level playing field for local and international investors through strict adherence to the guidelines stipulated by the BPP in contract award and execution, as well as payment.?
Bomai, in reaction to the allegation insists that approval for payment of contracts in the FCT must receive the assent of the minister or the permanent secretary as the case may be, depending on the approval limit of the job, just as he said the approval must however be after the completion of all procedures outlined in the public procurement document.
He stressed that determining which contractor to be paid or otherwise was not the prerogative of any one individual in the FCT and explained that upon the submission of due process certificates of work done by contractors, a committee called the cash flow management committee then steps in to determine the maturity or otherwise of such bills.?
The committee is made up of the executive secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), senior special assistant to the minister on economic matters, senior special assistant on budget monitoring and the chief of staff to the minister, as well as the director of treasury.
The committee, he said, deliberates on the criteria to be used for allocation of the usual scarce funds and then sends a written memo to the minister for final approval and also ensures that funds in its account are adequate and meant for the matured bills.?
Bomai added that the actual allocation of payments are done based on lists forwarded by the various departments where such contracts were awarded, after the final decision of the cash flow management committee.
But how effective has this mode of payment been in ensuring that the sharp practices noticed are checked?
LEADERSHIP investigations revealed that despite efforts made by the administration, as is the case in almost every other government establishment, contractors make attempts to influence officials in order to ensure that they get paid on time and often go as far as offering bribes to facilitate the payment.?
It is worthy of note however, that the system which was introduced about three years ago has received the commendation of the office of the Auditor General of the Federation (AGF).
The association of indigenous contractors in a letter to the administration also lauded the department’s continued interface with its members, saying the situation had immensely assisted in dousing tension among contractors.?
Bomai further stated that to check this trend, the FCT discourages contractors from parading themselves, especially in the office of the treasurer, where actual disbursement of funds takes place.?
A staff of the procurement process who craved anonymity said that while the FCT minister and the director of treasury could not be faulted for violating procurement rules, there were some staff of the procurement and treasury department in the FCT departments and agencies, who saw their positions as a goldmine.
By the foregoing, despite assurances by the FCT minister, Senator Bala Mohammed that the administration would continue to ensure prompt payment of all debts owed contractors, the administration may make little or no progress unless its staff members put aside personal gains and carry out their duties in the best interest of the public.
They must bear in mind that with the astronomical population rise in the FCT, there is need for accelerated infrastructural development and this can be made possible with their support as they play a key role in the process, just as the need for speedy completion of ongoing projects cannot be overstated.
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