BPP, ABU Move to Link Procurement Training With Food Security, Community Development in Nigeria

By Fatima Saka

The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, are moving to deepen collaboration on procurement reforms, with plans to introduce food security, affirmative and community-based procurement initiatives into Nigeria’s public procurement system.

The partnership is also expected to strengthen professional training, research, certification and institutional capacity development, while promoting transparency, efficiency and accountability in public procurement.

Right: Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State, Prof. Adamu Ahmed, his Deputy VC, Administration, Prof. Bello Sabo and the Registrar, Dr. A.D Kankia during their visit to the Bureau, in Abuja

The Director-General of BPP, Dr. Adebowale A. Adedokun, gave the indication on Monday in Abuja when he received the Vice-Chancellor of ABU, Professor Adamu Ahmed, and his delegation during a courtesy visit to the Bureau’s headquarters.

Adedokun said the proposed areas of collaboration aligned with the Bureau’s reform priorities, stressing that academic institutions would play a critical role in providing research, curriculum development and capacity building required to implement the initiatives.

He explained that food security procurement would leverage public procurement as a strategic tool to strengthen food production, aggregation and distribution.

The BPP chief also clarified that the Bureau’s regulatory interventions should not be viewed as adversarial, but as measures designed to strengthen institutional standards and promote excellence.

He reaffirmed the Bureau’s commitment to ensuring that ABU’s Public Procurement Research Centre (PPRC) and Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) Centre attained and sustained the status of genuine Centres of Excellence.

Adedokun assured the university that the Bureau would give its proposed framework expeditious consideration, promising to establish a joint team to review the proposal and agree on specific deliverables for the next one and two years.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ahmed, said the visit was aimed at strengthening the longstanding relationship between the university and the Bureau, which dates back to the establishment of the PPRC in 2016.

He commended BPP for its contributions to procurement professionalisation, electronic Government Procurement (e-GP), transparency, institutional capacity development and accountability.

Ahmed disclosed that the PPRC had trained more than 4,300 procurement practitioners through over 35 programmes, while the SPESSE Centre trained 3,303 professionals during its first phase and an additional 1,200 personnel since the commencement of its second phase.

He presented a proposal for a sustainable partnership framework that would outlive the tenures of individual leaders and expand cooperation in procurement education and institutional development.

The proposal includes an Executive Education Programme in Public Procurement, integration of the PPRC into the SPESSE sustainability framework, expanded regional training, commissioned research, professional certification and improved training infrastructure.

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It also seeks to support ongoing procurement reforms and the expansion of electronic Government Procurement across the country.

The meeting ended with the formal presentation of the proposal document, with both institutions expressing optimism that the strengthened partnership would advance procurement professionalisation and improve value delivery in Nigeria.