The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to strictly comply with the Nigeria First Policy in the procurement of vehicles and automotive equipment.
The director-general of the BPP, Dr Adebowale Adedokun, gave the directive in a statement issued by the agency’s Assistant Chief Information Officer, Ngozi Anyaelezu, in Abuja on Friday.
Adedokun said the directive followed a circular issued by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on May 20, directing MDAs to give preference to locally assembled vehicles.
He said the policy was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Transformative Agenda and the federal government’s commitment to promoting local industrialisation, economic self-reliance, foreign exchange conservation and national pride in Nigerian-made products.
According to him, implementation of the policy must also comply with the guidelines and criteria of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC).
Adedokun said the Public Procurement Act, 2007, mandated accounting officers to ensure that procurement plans, bidding documents, evaluation criteria and contract awards relating to automotive procurement reflected the requirements of the Nigeria First Policy.
“Subject to this circular, all federal MDAs and procuring entities must prioritise and purchase domestically assembled or manufactured vehicles, machinery and automotive spare parts,” he said.
He said procurement of vehicles from foreign manufacturers was prohibited except where an official waiver had been granted by the designated authority.
According to him, such waivers would only apply where there was an absolute lack of local capacity or availability.
The BPP director-general directed procuring entities to comply with the stipulated guidelines and eligibility criteria contained in the circular.
He further directed that payments for automotive procurement should only be processed with evidence of a Letter or Certificate of “No Objection” from the BPP.
Adedokun also directed MDAs and other procuring entities to compile and submit details of all vehicles in their respective pools from 2020 to date.
He said the records must include the date of purchase, purchase price, brand, model, Vehicle Identification Number, evidence of payment and the status of each vehicle in service.
According to him, the details must be submitted not later than three months after the end of each financial year through the Automobile Procurement Records Submission platform provided in the circular.
He said quarterly procurement reports submitted by MDAs must contain an itemised breakdown of automotive purchases, including details of compliance with local-content requirements.
“Failure to comply strictly with this directive will lead to the rejection of procurement approval requests and appropriate sanctions against defaulting accounting officers and procuring entities,” he said.
Adedokun urged all MDAs and procuring entities to ensure full compliance, noting that the directive takes immediate effect.
