By Paul Effiong, Abuja
House of Representatives is considering the establishment of a new commission known as the National Independent Project Monitoring Agency, NIPMA, to monitor all government-funded capital projects across the country.
In his lead debate, the sponsor, Chinedu Martins highlighted the perennial problem of abandoned projects across the country, noting that despite the trillions of naira appropriated annually for such capital expenditure, no tangible result has been achieved.
The lawmaker lamented that Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, responsible for awarding contracts are also tasked with monitoring its implementation, a structure he described as “inherently defective.”
He equally noted that self-supervisory arrangement had created a fertile ground for inefficiency, compromise and collusion between MDAs and contractors, resulting in more abandoned projects and mismanagement of public funds.
He described the situation as unacceptable and called for a fresh institutional approach to restore accountability.
The lawmaker disclosed that his bill is proposing the creation of NIPMA as a statutory body with the mandate to monitor, track and report the execution of all federal funded projects in the country.
According to Martins, this independent structure would ensure transparency and provide Nigerians with verifiable updates on the status of government projects in real-time.
He, however, opined that the proposed agency would not duplicate the functions of existing bodies like the Bureau of Public Procurement or the Auditor-General’s office rather it would complement them by providing specialised and on-the-ground oversight focused specifically on capital project implementation.
The benefits of the bill, he argued, are far-reaching.
“With NIPMA in place, projects will be executed to standard, within budget and on schedule.
“This will restore citizens confidence in governance and eliminate the trend of abandoned projects that have become eyesores in many communities,” he said.
The proposed agency is also expected to create significant employment opportunities, even as he highlighted potential openings for engineers, auditors, quantity surveyors, data analysts and other professionals who would be engaged in the monitoring process, thereby stimulating the local economy in project-hosting areas.
The debate drew keen attention from lawmakers, many of whom acknowledged the urgency of addressing the abandoned projects syndrome nationwide.
The bill is expected to undergo further deliberations at the committee level before returning to the floor for a final vote.
