The Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Examiners of Nigeria has disclosed that the country loses N300bn yearly to procurement scammers.
According to the institute, the loss is sure to the non-composition of National Procurement Council in tune with the Public Procurement Act, 2007 to regulate costing in the private and public sectors.
Its President and Chairman of Council, Dr. Iliyasu Gashinbaki, on Tuesday, pointed out that the council was supposed to fix uniform prices for goods and services and supervise other procurement functions being undertaken by the Federal Executive Council and States Executive Council to avoid discrepancies in pricing for same services by contractors and consultants.
This manifests in the huge spending by the Federal Government.
The examiners said the amount “is close to the statutory transfers of all commissions drawing from the first line charge” like the National Judicial Commission, National Assembly Service Commission, National Population Commission, National Human Rights Commission and the Niger Delta Development Commission.
At a press conference to commend the House of Representatives for passing the institute’s bill last week, Gashinbaki said the figure was the amount lost to haphazard invoicing that makes items and services more expensive in the country than what obtained elsewhere globally.
However, he promised that, when eventually empowered, the institute would standardise invoices and plug leakages through training of stakeholders to check the menace.
Gashinbaki said the proposed legislation would also address the capital flight from the country through importation of forensic experts for resources that could be sourced locally.
With 40,000 members across various fields, including chartered accountants, economists, security personnel and social scientists, the 10-year-old body, through its registrar, Mrs Rachael Ibi-Kuzhy, pledged strict adherence to rules in line with global best practices.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, had hinted that the Federal Government could begin implementation of the Steve Oronsaye report on rationalisation of agencies to save cost.
At the ‘National Policy Dialogue on Corruption and Cost of Governance in Nigeria’ organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission in the federal capital city, she added that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the review of payroll and a number of agencies.
She noted that government was also doing away with unnecessary expenses to cut cost of governance in the country.
The Bujsri administration had approved a N13.88tn budget with a deficit of over N5.6tn.
In his remarks, ICPC Chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye, observed that government expenditure was the “driver of corruption in Nigeria.”
