Procurement reforms save Federal Government N1.1 trillion, says accountability group

The Centre for Public Accountability has announced that reforms introduced by the Bureau of Public Procurement have helped the Federal Government save an estimated N1.1 trillion, largely through measures targeting inflated contract costs and procurement leakages.

The civil society organisation disclosed this on Saturday while presenting its Independent Service Delivery Assessment Report on selected government institutions, with particular focus on the BPP under the leadership of its Director-General, Adebowale Adedokun.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, the CPA’s Executive Director, Olufemi Lawson, said the establishment of a Price Intelligence Unit and a digital benchmarking framework by the BPP had emerged as one of the most impactful reforms in Nigeria’s public procurement system.

According to him, the initiative has helped identify and eliminate inflated quotations in government contracts while strengthening value-for-money spending across ministries, departments, and agencies.

“Our assessment identifies the establishment of the Price Intelligence Unit and digital benchmarking framework as one of the most impactful reforms introduced by the current leadership. The system has reportedly delivered savings estimated at over N1.1 trillion through real-time benchmarking and elimination of inflated quotations,” Lawson said.

He noted that procurement-related abuses, including contract inflation, weak oversight, and due process violations, had contributed to waste and inefficiency in public spending, making reforms in the sector critical to national development.

Lawson added that findings from the assessment showed that within the first 15 months of the current administration at the bureau, the agency had embarked on some of the most ambitious reforms since the Public Procurement Act was enacted in 2007.

The CPA also commended the BPP for revising procurement thresholds and operational guidelines that had remained outdated for years, stating that the review had reduced bureaucratic bottlenecks, accelerated procurement timelines, and improved oversight across government institutions.

The organisation further praised the introduction of revised Standard Bidding Documents across MDAs, saying the initiative improved transparency, strengthened competition among contractors, and reduced opportunities for manipulation of procurement processes.

On accountability, the group described the newly established National Debarment Policy as a landmark reform that creates an enforceable sanctions regime against fraudulent, unethical, and non-performing contractors.

“For the first time in Nigeria’s procurement history, there now exists an enforceable sanctions regime targeted at non-performing, fraudulent and unethical contractors,” Lawson said.

The organisation also acknowledged investments in capacity building, revealing that over 4,000 procurement officers had participated in structured training programmes while more than 2,700 had been certified under the National Procurement Certification Programme.

Despite the progress recorded, Lawson acknowledged that challenges remained within Nigeria’s procurement ecosystem but maintained that available evidence pointed to a leadership committed to transparency, accountability, and institutional reform.