The new Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mr Adebowale Adedokun, has cautioned staff members to desist from rumour-mongering whilst declaring his administration’s intention to maintain an open-door policy with staff.

The former Director of the BPP, Research, Strategic Training & Acquisition, made this known during the handover ceremony from his predecessor and acting Director General, Olusegun Omotola, which held at the BPP office in Abuja.

Identifying rumour-mongering as one of the major challenges of the bureau, Adebowale urged the staff to avoid rumour mongers of all sort, noting that his administration will operate an open-door policy to every staff member.

“I can assure you that my administration will not compromise on merit, quality and development of the staff.

“I can assure you that I will respect you, and do what needs to be done to ensure the continuous growth of the bureau. My vision is to build a BPP staff that is exportable, and of global standard.”

He further added that in addition to thoroughly reviewing and following-up on the details of the handover notes of his predecessor, his administration will develop policies that will empower women, youth and persons with disabilities.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, the outgoing acting Director General, Omotola listed an outdated salary structure, inadequate office space, inadequate budget, the need for staff recruitment, need for office furnishings and other tools of work, and the need for the digitization of the BPP for effective service delivery, as the major challenges of the bureau.

The challenges notwithstanding, Omotola was able to score significant achievements during his short administration from June 21 to November 18, 2024.

The achievements include: the adoption of an open-door policy – enabling direct feedback to staff from the executive (DG), an improvement on the turn-around time for bureau procurement from two to three, and no more than a month; an increase in the approval and procurement method threshold, and the stoppage of unwarranted visits of contractors to the BPP office.

“Contractors are no longer allowed into the BPP. BPP deals directly with the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs),” said Omotola.

Other achievements of the outgoing administration are, a proposal to the National Assembly to review the salary structure of the bureau, which has not been updated since 2011; as well as efforts to support enhanced budget ceiling of the BPP, to ensure the Bureau has access to increased funds to tend to, and expand its duties within and around public procurement.

In welcoming his successor, Omotola prayed for God’s wisdom and guidance on him in directing the affairs of the BPP.

The Senator representing Taraba Central Senatorial District, Manu Haruna has commended Governor Agbu Kefas bold move to transform Taraba state into an industrial hub in the north east geo-political zone of Nigeria.

Speaking at the sidelines during the critical stakeholders confab with CCECC in Abuja on Friday convened by the tireless governor, Senator Manu said:

“I commend our governor for this bold move towards making Taraba a major distributor of renewable energy, food and industrial enhancement in our region and by extension the entire country.

He said the governor’s move is second to none as the three critical pillars being canvassed are essential for the state’s growth: energy development, infrastructural enhancements, and initiatives aimed at securing food and economic stability.

The former Taraba deputy governor explained that: “There’s no doubt in my mind that the governor has all it takes to turnaround our dear state within a short period.

“This is a commendable move that must be pursued vigorously by all stakeholders as I equally hail CCECC a global engineering outfit with an impeccable track record for signing this MoU with Taraba State Government.

The Naira lost N89.27 against the dollar at the official foreign exchange market in the first week of October 2024.

This comes as the Naira ended the week at N1631.21 per dollar from N1541.94 exchange rate on September 30, 2024.

This showed that the Naira had weakened by a significant N89.27 against the dollar.

Further analysis showed that the Naira, despite recording mixed sentiments of gains and losses at the official FX market in the period under review, has predominantly depreciated.

Meanwhile, at the black market, the Naira gained N30 to close the week at N1,670 per dollar compared to N1,700 it started that month.