Assessment Level of Compliance with Public Procurement Act

Abstract

Public procurement is the acquisition of works, goods, and services by procuring entities using public funds. The study assesses the level of compliance with the public procurement act (PPA) 2007 in the north-central states of Nigeria. Questionnaires were administered to construction stakeholders in those seven (7) institutions that make up the northern-central. A census survey was used to collect data from contractors, physical planning unit staff, consultants, and procurement administrative units that have executed Tertiary Institutions Fund (Tetfund) projects within 2012-2016. Data collected were analyzed using the relative importance index (RII), Kruskal Wallis, and Dunnett's test. The study revealed that all institutions have a good level of compliance with the tenet and component of the act for the procurement process. The study also shows that there is a significant difference in the level of compliance with the Act by Federal Universities. There was no significant difference in the level of compliance in University of Ilorin (UniIlorin) and Federal University Lafia (UniLafia), University of Abuja (UniAbuja) and Federal University Lokoja (FULokoja), University of Jos (UniJos), and Federal University of Technology Minna (FUT Minna), UniIlorin and FUT Minna, FULokoja and UniJos. The level of compliance of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is significantly different from other universities. The study indicated that the compliance level is very high, with an overall RII of 80.3% and 91.2% of respondents affirmation of the use of open competitive bidding, which represents fairness, accountability, and openness. The study also affirmed that understanding of tenets of the Act is very high in the study area. The study recommends that there should be a strong understanding between the stakeholders in the construction industry to increase the compliance rate of the PPA (2007) and enhance adequate monitoring of unethical behaviours.