The Federal Executive Council (FEC) Wednesday set up a committee to review the Public Procurement Act 2007.
The committee is to be chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi.
Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Atiku Bagudu, said this while briefing said this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
(MDAs) to review their intended procurements as provided for in the appropriation, in order to bridge the gaps between appropriated sums and the sums required to execute the projects.
“This will enable clear source of funding and support timely harmonisation of memos by both the Federal Ministries of Finance and Ministry of Budget and National Planning before subsequent submission and presentation to the Executive Council,” he said.
in the review of the Public Procurement Act to align it with modern realities.
“We want to ensure that whatever is coming to the FEC is in line with the budgetary provisions. Some of the projects have been there for close to 13 years,” he said.
He said the amended Act would eliminate delays in the execution of infrastructure projects by ensuring that timelines are adhered to from conception to final execution.
He said the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, and the Minister of Works have been mandated to serve as a clearing house before the reviewed Act is represented to FEC.
Also speaking, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Mohammed Idris, said the council discussed and expressed strong dissatisfaction with a report published by the Daily Trust newspaper regarding the Samoa Agreement.
He said the government views the Daily Trust report as “misleading, false and designed to create confusion in the land.”
He said the federal government has written to the industry’s ombudsman urging it to look into the matter and address the excesses of the Daily Trust.
He said government expects the industry’s ombudsman to look into the matter objectively and that the Daily Trust should acknowledge its mistakes and apologise to the nation.
He added that the federal government is committed to press freedom and has no intention of gagging the media.