By Joy Odor
The House of Representatives has passed through second reading a bill aimed at establishing the National Independent Project and Monitoring Agency (NIPMA) to ensure transparency, accountability, and effective monitoring and evaluation of public projects in Nigeria.
The proposed legislation, sponsored by Hon. Chinedu Emeka Martins, seeks to eliminate collusion, reinforce accountability, and significantly reduce the trend of abandoned projects.
The agency will conduct independent oversight to ensure that projects are executed to standard, within budget, and within stipulated timeframes.
According to the lawmaker in his lead debate on the general principles of the bill informed that the current system of self-supervision by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) is inherently defective and breeds inefficiency, compromise, and corruption.
He noted that the establishment of NIPMA will generate employment opportunities, stimulate local economies, and ensure value for money, saving the nation billions of naira annually.
The bill’s sponsor emphasized that NIPMA will complement existing institutions such as the Bureau of Public Procurement and the Office of the Auditor-General, and will address the urgent need for real-time, on-the-ground monitoring of capital projects.
“You will agree with me that, year after year, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria presents an Appropriation Bill to this Honourable House, detailing capital expenditures running into trillions of naira for the execution of developmental projects across the country.
“These projects are domiciled in various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and implemented by contractors who are issued letters of award in accordance with the procedures outlined in the Public Procurement Act of 2007.
“Mr. Speaker and Honourable Colleagues, the reality on ground paints a distressing picture. Across the country, we encounter the scars of abandoned, substandard, or poorly executed projects by MDAs.
“This is not only wasteful; it is unacceptable. One of the major contributors to this failure is the absence of an independent, transparent, and credible monitoring system in the execution of projects by MDAs..
“Mr. Speaker and Honourable Colleagues, you will agree with me that the same MDAs that award these contracts are also the same MDAs responsible for monitoring the execution of the same projects.
“This arrangement is inherently defective. As the saying goes, you cannot be a judge in your own case.This model of self-supervision breeds inefficiency, fosters compromise, and enables contractors to cut corners, which is a major reason for the numerous abandoned projects, while billions of naira remain unaccounted for,”he said.
The lawmaker said it is in response to such a glaring governance vacuum that he is sponsoring the bill for the establishment NIPMA to serve as a statutory institution solely mandated to monitor, track and report on the implementation status of all federally funded projects across the country.
The proposed agency is expected to ensure that citizens regain trust in government when they see that public funds are being transparently and judiciously utilized.
It will also catalyze commerce, attract investment, and promote national development, thereby expanding the economy and reducing poverty.
