Water, sanitation and hygiene facilities are essential for health and welfare. Providing them is one of the core duties of the state.
But the report shows that It adds that only 68% of the Nigerian population have access to a basic water supply, 19% use safely managed sanitation facilities and 24% practise open defecation. In a recent paper we analysed data from selected local government areas where there were UNICEF-funded sanitation projects. Based on this, we argue that procurement regulation has been subverted to make money in the service delivery sector.
Section 24 of the Public Procurement Act sets out that contracts must be awarded to the bidder with the lowest bid that meets the contract’s terms and conditions.We drew on field data from sanitation projects in states across the country: Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Jigawa, Katsina, Rivers and Yobe. The procuring entities were ministries, extra-ministerial offices, government agencies, parastatal organisations and corporations.
Contrary to the expectation that the procurement legislation would promote broader participation in contract management, this study found that accepting the lowest bid limited the involvement of credible, trusted and tested firms known for the delivery of quality work, goods and services. Quality work would necessarily cost more than the lowest bid.