Damilola Shittu – Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the 2019 operational budget of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Group Managing Director of e state oil company, Dr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed Wednesday.
Although Baru did not state how much the corporation’s budget for 2019 was worth, he however disclosed that Buhari was gracious to approve it early enough.
In a statement from NNPC’s Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, Baru did not also reveal if the corporation will now submit the budget to the National Assembly for appropriation in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007, which provides that federal revenue generating agencies must submit their budgets to the National Assembly .
Baru said the corporation would move against any of its staff or management found guilty of taking any action that contravenes the provisions of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) in the award of contracts.
He warned of severe penalties for any of them found to have defaulted the PPA in award of contracts.
The statement explained that he gave the warning at a supply chain management workshop for NNPC’s procurement managers which held at its corporate headquarters in Abuja.
Baru, who cautioned staff against contract splitting and accumulation, said such acts are deliberately done by procurement managers to subvert due process in the procurement process.
He restated the corporation’s commitment to transparency in every aspect of its operations, stressing that all procurements and contract awards in the corporation under his watch so far had been carried out in conformity with the PPA.
To further deepen the culture of transparency in the corporation, Baru directed the supply chain management division of NNPC to step up its level of monitoring of the various tender boards within the corporation for full compliance.
Commending President Buhari for the early approval of NNPC’s budget, he stated that as Nigeria’s chief revenue earner, the corporation was committed to the economic policies of the federal government.
According to him: “The whole essence of the next level is to ensure that things are done correctly and speedily for the benefit of the people.”
