The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Adebowale Adedokun, has urged civil society organisations (CSOs) to monitor public projects from procurement planning and contract award to implementation and service delivery to prevent waste and ensure value for money.
Adedokun made the call at a BPP-CSO engagement in Abuja, where he stressed that procurement monitoring should go beyond verifying whether contracts were properly awarded to assessing whether projects deliver their intended benefits to Nigerians.
“We should not monitor procurement only by asking ‘was the contract awarded correctly?’” he said.
“We should also ask, ‘did the contract deliver what Nigerians were promised?’
“Was the hospital completed? Did the equipment arrive? Is the road functional? Are the classrooms being used? Did the community receive potable water? Was value for money achieved?”
He said effective monitoring would help translate procurement accountability into improved public services and better development outcomes.
BPP Proposes Partnership Framework With CSOs
Adedokun said the bureau was proposing a structured public procurement partnership framework with CSOs to strengthen collaboration and promote transparency.
According to him, the framework would focus on capacity building, access to information and data, procurement and project monitoring, reporting and early warning, and citizen engagement.
He said CSOs could monitor selected projects throughout the procurement process, particularly those with a direct impact on communities.
The BPP director-general added that improved access to procurement information and open contracting data would enable civil society groups to conduct evidence-based monitoring.
“Greater utilisation of procurement information and open contracting data can enable civil society to undertake evidence-based monitoring rather than relying on speculation,” he said.
Adedokun Warns Against Compromising CSO Independence
Adedokun emphasised that collaboration between the government and CSOs must not undermine the independence of civil society organisations.
“Partnership must never mean the loss of civil society’s independence. We do not expect civil society organisations to become an extension of government.
“We expect you to ask questions. We expect you to examine the evidence. We expect you to identify weaknesses. And where necessary, we expect you to challenge us constructively,” he said.
He urged CSOs to ensure their criticism was backed by evidence, adding that government institutions must remain open to scrutiny and recommendations.
BPP Links Procurement to National Development
The BPP director-general said public procurement decisions directly affect critical sectors, including healthcare, education, roads, electricity, security, agriculture and employment.
He noted that the quality of procurement also influences the standard of public services available to citizens.
“Every procurement decision has the potential to affect a hospital, a school, a road, electricity supply, security, agriculture, employment or the quality of public services available to our citizens,” he said.
“Therefore, when procurement works, Nigeria works better.”
Adedokun called on CSOs to participate in developing the proposed partnership framework, saying its success should be measured by the number of projects improved, waste prevented, transparency enhanced, communities empowered and public value delivered.
