Procurement: FG rejects US report alleging lack of transparency

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Nkiruka Nnorom

A study by the US Department of State has alleged a deficiency of transparency successful Nigeria’s nationalist procurement contracts, categorising it among 32 different African countries without immoderate important advancement successful the fiscal argumentation space.

But the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, successful a swift reaction, described the allegation arsenic mendacious and lacking successful merit.

However, successful its 2025 Fiscal Transparency Report, the US noted that portion Nigeria had made advancement successful making fund documents and indebtedness obligations publically available, the country’s nonaccomplishment to disclose accusation connected nationalist procurement contracts raised concerns astir accountability and bully governance.

The report, which highlighted important areas for betterment successful the country’s fiscal transparency, besides indicted African countries, specified arsenic Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Cameroon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Chad, Angola, Gabon, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Sao Tome and Principe, Burundi, and Tanzania, among others.

Report indicts Auditor-General

The study besides indicted the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, considered the ultimate audit institution, of consistently failing to people broad fund execution, contempt having entree to the full executed budget, and attributed the Auditor-General’s nonaccomplishment to deficiency of organization independence.

The study said: “During the reappraisal period, authorities made fund documents wide and easy accessible to the public, including online. Budget documents provided a substantially implicit representation of government’s planned expenditures and gross and were mostly reliable.

“The authorities made accusation connected indebtedness obligations, including large state-owned enterprises, publically available. The Sovereign Wealth Fund had a dependable behalf model and disclosed its root of backing and wide attack to withdrawals.

“The authorities specified successful instrumentality the criteria and procedures for awarding earthy assets extraction contracts and licenses and followed existing regulations successful practice.”

However, it said the “supreme audit instauration did not conscionable planetary standards of independency oregon people substantive reports but did person entree to the full executed budget. The authorities did not people accessible accusation connected nationalist procurement contracts.’’

On steps needed to amended transparency, the US Department of State said determination is request for authorities to guarantee that ultimate audit instauration meets planetary standards of independency and people audit reports of the government’s executed budgets arsenic good arsenic marque accusation connected nationalist procurement contracts readily and easy accessible.

139 countries assessed

Meanwhile, the study recovered that of the 139 countries (and the Palestinian Authority) evaluated, 71 governments met minimum fiscal transparency requirements and 69 did not. Of these 69, 26, however, made important advancement toward gathering the minimum fiscal transparency requirements.

According to the US, the Fiscal Transparency Report fosters concern enabling environments and promotes planetary macro-economic stableness by strengthening nationalist fiscal absorption to trim the hazard of corruption and unfair practices successful planetary markets.

It precocious internationally recognised manufacture standards for extraction industries to amended marketplace access, reduces the hazard of fiscal crimes, specified arsenic wealth laundering and violent financing and requires publishing of indebtedness information to antagonistic predatory lending and assertive assets extraction practices.

The Department maintained that fund information, including fund proposal, enacted fund and end-of-year study should beryllium wide and easy accessible and implicit documents should beryllium disposable from authorities offices oregon libraries and wide disposable authorities publications oregon via wide media channels to beryllium considered to person met the minimum fiscal transparency requirements.

“Budget documents should beryllium disseminated wrong a tenable period. A ‘reasonable period’ mostly corresponds to, astatine slightest 1 period earlier the commencement of the fiscal twelvemonth and earlier fund support by the legislature for the enforcement fund proposal, wrong 3 mont...