Key points
- The Federal Government has approved the establishment of seven new zonal offices for the Bureau of Public Procurement.
- A new specialized recruitment track for sustainable procurement graduates is being introduced into the public service cadre.
- The agency is collaborating with stakeholders to amend the Public Procurement Act of 2007 to modernize nationwide oversight.
- Over 2,000 public procurement officers have been verified under ongoing certification and professionalization drives.
- The World Bank announced that comprehensive verification exercises for the capacity building initiative will commence this July.
Main Story
The Federal Government has approved the creation of seven new zonal offices for the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to strengthen transparency, accountability, and professional standards across public sector contracts.
According to an official statement released on Monday in Abuja by the BPP’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Zira Nagga, the expansion was highlighted during a high-level meeting with the World Bank-supported Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) Implementation Mission. BPP Director-General Dr. Adebowale Adedokun confirmed that President Bola Tinubu greenlit the regional offices to deepen the bureau’s regulatory reach and improve procurement oversight nationwide.
To sustain these reforms, the government is formalizing sustainable procurement as a specialized recruitment discipline within the civil service cadre. This initiative creates a direct, structured career pathway for specialized graduates currently completing training at six designated SPESSE Centres of Excellence across Nigeria, including Ahmadu Bello University, the University of Lagos, and the University of Benin.
Adedokun noted that the bureau has already verified 2,075 procurement officers and received 816 professional certification results. Concurrently, the agency is working with federal stakeholders to develop a National Procurement Strategic Framework and draft amendments to the Public Procurement Act of 2007 to modernize old regulatory processes.
The World Bank has commended the BPP’s progress in capacity building, with World Bank representative Ishtiak Siddique announcing that formal project verification exercises will kick off this July. Siddique emphasized that transitioning to electronic procurement represents the next major milestone in building a transparent public system.
Future collaborations between the global bank and the BPP will focus on unveiling standard tender documents, hosting sustainability retreats, and delivering electronic procurement training for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Officials also reviewed the implementation of the National Procurement Officers Management System (NAPOMS) alongside representatives from the Head of the Civil Service and the Federal Civil Service Commission to institutionalize global best practices.
The Issues
- Aligning the training curricula across the six university centers with the practical operational needs of federal ministries.
- Overcoming technical hurdles to ensure smooth electronic procurement transition for small and medium businesses.
- Synchronizing civil service recruitment frameworks with the newly proposed specialized sustainable procurement cadre.
What’s Next
- BPP deployment teams will secure physical infrastructure and assign administrative personnel to launch the seven newly approved zonal stations.
- Field compliance officers will begin on-site data gathering next month as the World Bank’s July verification window opens.
- Legal draftsmen will present the proposed revisions to the Public Procurement Act of 2007 before the National Assembly.
Bottom Line
By approving seven new zonal offices and designing a dedicated recruitment pipeline for university specialized graduates, the federal government and the World Bank are moving to institutionalize professional oversight and digitize Nigeria’s public contract landscape.
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