The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has re-opened the Permanent Secretaries’ Retreat after a four-year hiatus, with a strong call for procurement leadership and accountability to drive effective budget execution and national development.
The 2026 edition of the Retreat, themed “Strengthening Procurement Leadership and Accountability for Effective Budget Execution and National Development”, commenced on Thursday, 9th July, at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, and will run until Sunday, 12th July 2026.
In his opening address, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Dr. Adebowale A. Adedokun, FCIPS, described public procurement as “one of the most powerful instruments of governance” and “the bridge between budget approval and service delivery.”
Dr. Adedokun noted that the retreat remains a critical platform for policy dialogue and…
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.