The ongoing reforms and “Nigeria First’ policy recently introduced by the new leadership of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) will help Nigeria save over N100 billion by 2027, public procurement experts have predicted.
The experts thanked President Bola Tinubu for approving the policy which was championed by the Bureau’s Director General, Dr. Adewale Adedokun.
They, however, raised the alarm that some contractors and MDAs are uncomfortable with some of the reforms initiated by the BPP boss, particularly the technical no-objection requiring contractors and suppliers to return with their financials before obtaining the final approval to award contracts.
“In essence,” noted one of the experts, “under the new leadership, contractors are required to submit all their procurement processes with all the submission of bidders and financial evaluation criteria,” adding, “this is on addition to the introduction of the price intelligence unit that reduces bloated sums of contracts from MDAs.”
Speaking with senior editors during the week, a public procurement consultant, Dr. Nzekwe Obiorah, said the practice used to be, “once contractors and suppliers got their no-objection certificates, they would go and do as they liked, sometimes tampering with the figures.
“However, with Adedokun’s appointment, you would have to come back to the bureau with all your tender processes, and, most of the time, the new Financial Intelligence Unit will benchmark the cost and mostly likely, reduce it.”
According to him, prioritising Nigerian-made goods and services in all government procurement processes, not only is a demonstration of the President’s sense of patriotism, but would greatly strengthen Nigeria’s economy by reducing dependence of foreign goods and services.
Nigeria First policy, which President Tinubu approved in May 2025, mandates that federal agencies must justify any foreign procurement and can face sanctions for non-compliance. The BPP is responsible for implementing the policy by updating guidelines, creating a Local Content Compliance Framework, and maintaining a register of local suppliers.
He noted that President Tinubu’s appointment of Dr. Adedokun as the BPP helmsman has greatly changed the fortunes of the agency.
“Look at this beautiful ” Nigeria First” policy designed by the BPP just under a year of Dr. Adedokun’s appointment. From whichever angle viewed, it is one of the most beautiful policies designed by any government agency since the return of democracy in 1999.
“I see the federal government saving over N100 billion through this policy in the next couple of years. Look at all the the other reforms the BPP boss is driving all under a year of his appointment.
“These sweeping reforms have admittedly hurt many contractors who would rather it was business as usual. What is important is that the reforms have helped strengthen our public procurement process, added value to the Tinubu administration, and pioneered a new era of transparency,” declared Obiorah.
