The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Dr. Adebowale A. Adedokun, has declared that Nigeria’s procurement system will undergo a comprehensive overhaul, warning that entrenched interests may resist the reforms.

The DG stated this at a stakeholders’ consultative session with the bidding public and civil society organisations in Lagos.

The consultative session, in partnership with the Partnership for Agile Governance and Climate Engagement (PACE), brought together the bidding public, civil society actors, policymakers, and reform champions to validate findings from Nigeria’s recent procurement system assessment and shape the next phase of national procurement reform.

The session builds on findings from the Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems (MAPS), a globally recognised diagnostic framework developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The MAPS assessment examined Nigeria’s federal procurement system across legal frameworks, institutional capacity, market practices, transparency, and accountability.

Adedokun described the country’s procurement environment as challenging, stressing that national development is closely tied to the effectiveness and transparency of public procurement processes.

“No nation develops or achieves milestones where procurement is seen as merely transactional. The development of Nigeria is basically under how effective our procurement processes are,” he said.

The BPP boss cautioned procurement officers against viewing the system as an avenue for personal enrichment.

Adedokun also challenged contractors to desist from inflating contract prices and inducing public officials.

As part of sweeping reforms, Adedokun announced that from March 2, all submissions to the BPP must be done electronically.