……..…Says its Framework Worthy of Emulation.
The World Bank has commended the Federal Government of Nigeria for providing the political will that enabled the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to implement some of the reforms that have redefined public procurement management in Nigeria.
The commendation was given by the World Bank and other Development Partners, including Nazarene Ali, Procurement Practice Manager for World Bank in West and Central Africa region, at a World Bank Group Forum, which had over 350 procurement specialists in attendance.
The accolades followed the resolve by the Federal Government to make it compulsory for all Federal Public Procurement Officers to get certified through the Nigeria Public Procurement Certification Programme, championed by the BPP.
Ali specifically commended the BPP leadership for navigating intricate bureaucratic hurdles to overhaul the national procurement framework, noting that the sweeping reforms successfully secured vital presidential backing to surmount historic systemic challenges, just as she praised the Federal Government for providing the political will.
She noted that Nigeria’s public procurement capacity building strategic framework and its ongoing implementation has evolved into a world-class framework worthy of international emulation and collaborative study.
Also, several other countries and other participating organisations formally solicited for Nigeria’s technical assistance toward replicating the same in their respective jurisdictions.
In his presentation titled, “Professionalising Public Procurement: From Certification to National Mandate,”the BPP Director-General, Dr. Adebowale Adedokun, noted that the NPPCP, under the World Bank-financed Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) Project, is now nationally mandatory for all federal procurement officers following the establishment of a strict, time-bound compliance window for all existing procurement officers to attain professional certification in order to practice procurement in Nigeria, saying that so far a total of 2,972 procurement practitioners have successfully received professional certification.
In the end, the World Bank Forum rounded up the session with renewed commitments from international partners to deepen technical cooperation with Nigeria towards its public procurement.
Signed:
Ngozi C. Anyaelezu
For: Head, Public Relations
BPP
October 26, 2026
