11 May 2006 | Rebecca Ellinor

Nigeria has moved one step closer to adopting its first law to govern procurement practice in the public sector and eradicate corruption.

A total of 80 per cent of government expenditure is spent on goods and services and while there are purchasing procedures in place, with no law, the risk of impropriety is high.

Bola Afolabi, Shell senior adviser for contracting and procurement, National Petroleum Development Corporation Transformation Project and CIPS representative in Africa, told SM, while there is no law, technically, there is no crime.

A revised bill was originally submitted to the National Assembly in 2003 but progress has been slow.

At the end of last month, however, the Public Procurement Bill 2004 was presented for public hearing.

Afolabi has made submissions on the case for public procurement reform in the past and last month told the committee holding the public hearing it is "imperative to ensure such huge expenditure is spent prudently through competent professionals who are trained in contracting and procurement".

SM will be reporting from the annual Institute of Purchasing and Supply South Africa (IPSA) conference which takes place next week.

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