By GRACE ALEGBA

The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Dr Adebowale Adedokun, has announced new reforms aimed at overhauling the nation’s public procurement system to restore transparency, accountability and value for money.Adedokun made the announcement on Thursday in Lagos at a stakeholders’ consultative meeting organised by the BPP with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office(FCDO)–Partnership for Agile Governance and Climate Engagement (PACE).

The event brought together contractors, suppliers, consultants, civil society organisations and professional bodies to deliberate on the Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems (MAPS).

He said Nigeria’s development is directly tied to the integrity of its procurement system, vowing to “shake the system” where necessary to protect public resources and promote sustainable development.

Adedokun said that over the past decade, Nigeria’s procurement culture had deteriorated, allowing entrenched practices that undermine due process and national development.

According to him, correcting the system will be difficult but necessary, as procurement remains central to infrastructure delivery, service provision and overall economic growth.

He disclosed that upon assumption of office, he received a directive from President Bola Tinubu to reform procurement at the federal level, stressing that the system requires a total overhaul rather than cosmetic adjustments.

Adedokun warned that procurement officers must not view their roles as avenues for personal enrichment, adding that any officer seeking wealth through the system should resign.

He described public officials and contractors as collaborators in procurement abuse, condemning contract inflation and inducements offered to government officials.

Adedokun revealed that within one year of tightening approval processes and eliminating blanket “no objection” practices, the BPP identified discrepancies amounting to N1.1 trillion that could have been lost through leakages.

He added that 13 agencies and contractors were recently referred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for investigation over alleged procurement violations.

Adedokun announced the introduction of a Nigerian first policy to prioritise locally assembled vehicles and key sectors such as textiles and manufacturing in public procurement.

He said the bureau was implementing affirmative procurement measures to allocate a percentage of public contracts to women-led businesses, youths, persons with disabilities, start-ups and veterans.

Adedokun explained that the BPP was moving toward sector-based procurement thresholds and contractor categorisation to eliminate the era of “general contractors” handling projects outside their areas of core competencies.

He unveiled a policy to blacklist contractors who deliver substandard projects, noting that poor performance would no longer go unpunished.

Adedokun said the bureau would deploy an AI-driven question-and-answer platform to improve guidance, transparency and responsiveness to stakeholders.

He also announced the digitisation of the procurement process beginning March 2, to reduce human interference and enhance transparency.

Earlier, Mrs Chioma Itodo from PACE explained her organisation’s partnership with the BPP to strengthen Nigeria’s procurement system.

She said the PACE programme facilitates dialogue between government and citizens to address procurement challenges and is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office but implemented locally.

According to her, the programme is supporting the BPP in implementing MAPS as a pathway toward developing a comprehensive national procurement strategy.

She said the assessment was conducted independently to ensure credibility, objectivity and transparency.

Itodo explained that over the past six months, independent assessors had led the evaluation while the bureau facilitated stakeholder engagements.

She described MAPS as a diagnostic framework for examining the nation’s procurement history, strengths and gaps, while outlining four pillars of assessment.

She highlighted progress recorded, including engagement sessions with the Office of the Head of Civil Service, permanent secretaries and procurement directors from 13 selected MDAs.

Itodo said that after an initial virtual consultation with civil society groups and bidders recorded low participation, physical sessions were convened in Kano and Lagos to boost stakeholder input.

She added that 387 procurement files across the 13 MDAs were reviewed in an exercise she described as rigorous and driven by the bureau leadership’s sincerity of purpose. (NAN)

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