The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) says it will deepen its partnership with Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, to professionalise and transform public procurement in Nigeria.

Dr Adebowale Adedokun, Director-General, BPP, gave the assurance in a statement by Ijeoma Chijoke-Adindu, Head of Information and Public Relations, BPP, in Abuja on Wednesday.

Adebowale gave the assurance when he received the Vice-Chancellor of ABU, Prof. Adamu Ahmed and his delegation on a courtesy visit.

The delegation comprised representatives of the World Bank-supported Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) Centre of Excellence and the University’s Public Procurement Research Centre (PPRC).

The BPP boss described the relationship between the two institutions as cordial, technical and institutional, built on mutual respect, discipline and a shared commitment to excellence.

He said the bureau’s regulatory interventions were aimed at strengthening institutional standards and should not be misconstrued as adversarial.

He commended ABU for its contributions to procurement education and professional development, particularly through the PPRC and the World Bank-supported SPESSE Centre of Excellence.

Adedokun said the proposed areas of collaboration aligned with the bureau’s reform priorities, particularly Food Security Procurement, Affirmative Procurement and Community-Based Procurement.

According to him, the implementation of the reforms requires strong academic support in research, curriculum development and capacity building.

He expressed optimism that ABU, through the PPRC and SPESSE Centre, would play a leading role in advancing the initiatives.

Adedokun reiterated the bureau’s commitment to ensuring that the centres hosted by the university attained and sustained the status of Centres of Excellence in procurement training, research and professional capacity development.

He said that food security procurement was designed to deploy public procurement as a strategic instrument for strengthening food production, aggregation and distribution.

The BPP boss welcomed the university’s proposal for a sustainable partnership framework and assured the delegation that it would receive expeditious consideration.

“We will gladly receive your proposal and set up a small joint team with your team to review it.

“We will examine the issues and convene another meeting where we will agree on what we are committed to delivering in the next one year and in the next two years,” he said.

Earlier, Ahmed said that the visit provided an opportunity to reaffirm the longstanding relationship between the university and BPP, and to explore avenues for deeper institutional collaboration.

The Vice-Chancellor acknowledged BPP’s leadership in advancing procurement reforms, particularly in professionalisation, institutional capacity development, electronic Government Procurement (e-GP), transparency, efficiency and accountability.

He said that the PPRC was established in 2016 through collaboration between BPP and ABU, adding that the bureau had remained an invaluable partner in its activities.

He also acknowledged BPP’s contributions to curriculum development and Train-the-Trainer programmes for the PPRC and SPESSE centres.

Ahmed said that the PPRC had trained more than 4,300 procurement practitioners through over 35 programmes.

He said that the SPESSE centre had trained 3,303 professionals during its first phase and an additional 1,200 personnel since the commencement of its second phase.

According to him, the university’s hosting of both centres reflects its commitment to supporting Nigeria’s public procurement reform agenda.

The vice-chancellor presented a proposal for a sustainable framework to strengthen the partnership beyond individual leadership tenures.

The proposal includes an Executive Education Programme in Public Procurement, integration of the PPRC into the SPESSE sustainability framework, expanded regional training, support for procurement reforms and e-Government Procurement.

It also covers commissioned research, professional certification and improved training infrastructure.

The meeting ended with the formal presentation of the proposal document, with both institutions expressing optimism that the strengthened partnership would promote procurement professionalisation, institutional development and greater value for the nation. (NAN(NAN)

Edited by Kadiri Abdulrahman