Embrace reforms for transparency, efficiency, BPP D-G urges procurement officers

Dr Adebowale Adedokun, Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), has urged procurement officers to stay abreast of ongoing procurement reforms to ensure efficiency, transparency, and accountability in public service delivery.Adedokun made the call at a meeting with procurement officers of the Directorate Cadre, Salary Grade Levels (SGL)14 to 17 in the Pool of the Bureau in Abuja on Thursday.Presenting an overview of current trends in public procurement, he said that the key pillars of the reforms were efficiency, transparency, accountability and innovation.Adedokun listed the reforms to include the implementation of the Revised Service-Wide Prior Review and Monetary Thresholds Guidelines; the Nigeria Procurement Certification Programme (NCPC) and the Proposed amendment to the Public Procurement Act (PPA) .Others are Revision and Deployment of an E-government procurement system; Development of Nigeria First Policy; Developing the National Procurement Transformation Strategy and Development of a Community/Affirmative Procurement.He also listed the Mobility function of Procurement Officers; Development of the Nigeria E-Market; Revised Standard Bidding Documents and Deployment of a Debarment Policy, and Development of a Price Intelligence and Benchmarking framework.The D-G said that in spite of the reforms, the desired impact was yet to be fully realised, adding that some officers are still failing to comply with approved guidelines.“Many ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are yet to fully adopt the revised standard bidding documents,” he said.He identified some challenges such as resistance to change, capacity gaps in MDAs, budgetary constraints, abuse of procurement methods, manipulation of the bid evaluation process and delays in amending the PPA (2007), among others.Adedokun said that the bureau had ramped up procurement audit and surveillance activities to enforce compliance with extant rules and regulations.“For these reforms to work, we need everyone on board. Procurement connects citizens with the government to deliver value and end users’ satisfaction,” he said.Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), in her message, described procurement officers as key to promoting accountability, transparency and efficiency in the Federal Public Service.Walson-Jack, represented by Dr Binyerem Ukaire, Permanent Secretary Career Management Office, said that the Revised Service-wide Prior Review Monetary Thresholds were introduced to improve operational efficiency while maintaining due process.According to her, procurement officers play a strategic role in public service reforms, as their work directly affects project delivery, fiscal discipline and service quality.She urged officers to uphold professionalism, integrity and strict compliance with procurement regulations, while embracing continuous learning and ethical conduct.She reaffirmed her office’s commitment to supporting initiatives that strengthen institutional capacity across MDAs, as she commended the BPP boss for advancing procurement reforms.Also speaking, Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Dr Dasuki Arabi, urged the participants to leverage technology to drive procurement reforms.“The reforms have brought changes in professionalising our workforce, with innovation in the e-GP (Nigeria Electronic Government Procurement system rollout target), embedding transparency and positioning procurement as a catalyst for the Renewed Hope Agenda.“The e-GP has produced no fewer than 2,100 World Bank-certified procurement officers, with further planned training to build skilled capacity within the cadre.”