The Federal Government is moving to amend Nigeria’s 19-year-old Public Procurement Act to curb abandoned projects, strengthen spending controls and improve transparency in the award and execution of government contracts.
The proposed amendment, being pursued by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) in collaboration with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), is expected to provide the legal backing for at least 29 reforms aimed at ensuring that public spending delivers measurable economic benefits.
The reforms include end-to-end electronic procurement, community-based contracting and measures to expand access to government contracts for micro, small and medium enterprises, women-owned businesses and youth-led enterprises.
Speaking on Tuesday during a meeting with the BPP Director-General, Dr Adebowale Adedokun, and his delegation at the NRS headquarters in Abuja, the NRS Executive Chairman, Dr Zacch Adedeji, called for a fundamental review of the procurement framework to reflect current economic realities.
Adedeji said innovations introduced by the BPP had helped the revenue service deliver its new headquarters, adding that the experience highlighted the need for more flexible and forward-looking procurement rules.
He said Nigeria needed to reassess its procurement system in the same way the Federal Government had undertaken tax reforms, particularly to support infrastructure development and efficient public spending.
Adedokun said abandoned projects represented a waste of public resources, whether funded by current revenue or loans that future generations would have to repay.
“Whether for now or the future, it’s still tax money,” he said, stressing the need to ensure that government contracts delivered their intended benefits.
A key part of the proposed reforms is a comprehensive electronic procurement system designed to digitise the contracting process, from identifying government needs to making payments.
The system is expected to improve transparency and traceability, strengthen oversight and reduce opportunities for irregularities. Application programming interfaces would also allow relevant government systems to exchange information.
For the NRS, integration with procurement systems could improve tax compliance by making it easier to track transactions and ensure that applicable taxes are remitted.
Adedokun said the reforms were also intended to boost investor confidence by making government contracting more transparent and predictable.
He highlighted changes to procurement approval thresholds, which he credited to President Bola Tinubu, saying chief executives of federal agencies could now approve contracts below N10bn without referring them to the Federal Executive Council, subject to applicable procurement rules.
He said the previous thresholds had become impractical amid exchange-rate changes and rising project costs, slowing the execution of major infrastructure projects.
The revised limits, he added, would give agency heads greater flexibility to implement projects while retaining due-process requirements.
Another proposed measure is community-based procurement, which would enable eligible smaller contracts to be handled closer to the communities where projects are needed.
Adedokun questioned why contractors operating in Nigeria’s 774 local government areas should have to travel to Abuja to pursue contracts that could be administered locally.
The approach is expected to create opportunities for local businesses, support employment and broaden participation in public infrastructure projects.
The BPP also announced a digital capacity-building platform to prepare MSMEs for public procurement opportunities. Other proposed measures would widen access for women-owned businesses, youth-led enterprises, persons with disabilities and veterans.
Adedokun said the existing Public Procurement Act could not adequately accommodate the scale of reforms planned by the bureau, making legislative amendments necessary.
He described the BPP as an enabling institution rather than a bottleneck, saying its role was to help government agencies deliver projects while ensuring compliance with procurement requirements.
He added that securing the necessary approvals and following due process would help protect public officials and institutions against future investigations relating to contract administration.
The engagement is expected to strengthen technical collaboration between the NRS and the BPP as work on the procurement reforms progresses.
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