The House of Representatives has passed, through second reading, a bill seeking to establish the National Independent Project and Monitoring Agency (NIPMA), aimed at strengthening transparency, accountability, and efficiency in the execution of public projects across the country.
The proposed legislation, sponsored by Hon. Chinedu Emeka Martins, is designed to address the chronic issue of abandoned and substandard projects by introducing an independent oversight body that will monitor, track, and report on the implementation of all federally funded capital projects.
Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill during plenary on Wednesday, Hon. Martins lamented the recurring failure of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to deliver quality projects, despite the National Assembly appropriating trillions of naira annually for capital development.
“Year after year, the Federal Government presents appropriation bills detailing huge capital expenditures,” Martins noted. “Yet, what we see across the country are abandoned, poorly executed, and inflated projects, with little or no accountability.”
He attributed the trend to the current self-supervisory structure where the same MDAs that award contracts also oversee their execution. “This is inherently flawed. You cannot be a judge in your own case. It fosters inefficiency, enables collusion, and allows contractors to cut corners,” he argued.
Hon. Martins said NIPMA, once established, would provide real-time, independent project monitoring, detect inflated costs early, ensure value for money, and curb the widespread mismanagement of public funds.
According to him, “The agency will not conflict with existing institutions like the Bureau of Public Procurement or the Office of the Auditor-General. Rather, it will complement their efforts by filling the critical gap of project-level monitoring and evaluation.”
The lawmaker also highlighted the socioeconomic benefits of the proposed agency, including job creation for professionals such as engineers, quantity surveyors, auditors, and data analysts. He added that improved project delivery would stimulate economic activities in host communities and help rebuild citizens’ trust in government.
Hon. Martins urged his colleagues to support the bill, describing it as “timely, necessary, and in the best interest of the Nigerian people.”
The bill was unanimously supported and passed for second reading, and has been referred to the appropriate committee for further legislative action.
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