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DG BPP advocates collaboration between procurement specialists and strategists to plug financial leakages in public sector
Director General of Bureau of Public Procurement [BPP], Dr Adebowale Adedokun said without strategists working closely with procurement specialists, Nigeria might not be able to tame the monster of financial leakages that had led to the decline in the nation’s resources.
Adebowale spoke extempore on Thursday in Port Harcourt in a goodwill message he delivered at the 2025 Annual Conference of the Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria [Chartered], with the theme: “Strategic leadership in a disruptive economy: Driving sustainable national development.”
He said there was an urgent need to reduce the fleece of national resources and maximise the resources in the interest of national development.
According to him: “Without proper strategists working closely with procurement specialists, we may not be able to conquer the big monster that affects our nation. That monster, it is very clear, requires that we reduce the fleece of our resources and maximise our resources for the interest of our nation.”
Adedokun stated that BPP was driving a series of reforms by the federal government to make procurement transformational and not transactional.
He said: “The procurement reforms we are driving have disrupted ‘the regime of business as usual’, thus paving the way for a new era in robust service delivery, provision of good accommodation, good educational system, good hospitals, and good financial sector….”
The DG assured the institute that the BPP would work closely with it to deliver improved capacity of officers in the public sector, declaring that “we will collaborate with you to remove quacks who are undermining the progress of our great nation.”
He added: “I will like on this note to say that it is obvious that we misunderstood the Renewed Hope Agenda, which implementation, to me, clearly lies with the strategists. The Renewed Hope Agenda is a vision, and strategists should implement the vision.”
Adebowale urged members of the Institute to rise together with BPP to translate this vision into reality “by everybody playing their role in a constructive and progressive manner. I assure you that the BPP will provide you with all the information regarding procurement activities in this country.”
He continued: “Perhaps, this is the most critical time in our history as a nation where this institute has to play more strategic role.
“This is the critical milestone where Nigerians are yearning for values, for deliverables, for transformations rather than transactions, accountability, and transparency as opposed to what we see currently.
“My appeal this morning is that no nation thrives without strategists; no nation can conquer, obviously, challenges such as provision of electricity, housing, values for money. No nation thrives when there are challenges of insecurity except the strategists become strategic.”
Meanwhile, in a prepared speech which he later availed the institute, Adedokun had said that the theme of the confab resonated deeply with the BPP’s own mission — “to promote a procurement system that supports national growth, fiscal discipline, and inclusive development.”
He said that the theme reflected a call for rethinking how leadership, innovation, and governance should be exercised amid economic shocks, global uncertainty, and increasing demand for better public service delivery.
Adedokun took the opportunity to explain that procurement was more than just a tool for acquiring goods and services, describing public procurement as one of the most powerful enablers of development in any modern economy.
He said: “In Nigeria, it accounts for over 60% of the national and sub-national government budgets, covering capital projects, infrastructure, defence, healthcare, education, and essential services.
“When properly managed, procurement serves as a conduit for infrastructure development, enabling roads, railways, schools, and hospitals to be built efficiently and transparently; industrialisation, by supporting local manufacturers and service providers; job creation, especially when local content is prioritised; social inclusion, by enabling women, youth, and SMEs to participate in public contracting; and economic stimulus, particularly during downturns.
“Conversely, inefficient procurement breeds corruption, project failures, waste of public resources, and loss of citizen confidence in governance. That is why we must reposition procurement as a strategic driver of economic sustainability, not just an administrative function.”
Quoting Peter Drucker’s “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things,” Adedokun said that “in a disruptive economy like ours, strategic procurement leadership is about doing the right things — with courage, innovation, and integrity — to uplift our nation and improve the lives of our people.
“Let us remember: every naira spent on procurement is the people’s money. It must deliver value, create jobs, build infrastructure, and inspire hope. It must not be wasted. It must not be stolen.
“Let this conference mark a renewed commitment by all of us — policymakers, professionals, academics, and citizens — to transform procurement into a genuine engine of sustainable national development.”
The Federal Government is taking steps to establish a national electricity complaints call centre that will give consumers across Nigeria a direct channel to report service challenges, seek redress, and track complaints to resolution.
The Minister of Power, Chief Joseph O. Tegbe, disclosed this at the commissioning of a 3-megawatt hybrid solar power project and Renewable Energy Workshop and Training Centre at Yakubu Gowon University, Abuja.
Tegbe said the initiative was designed to strengthen accountability, responsiveness and consumer confidence in the power sector.
“My office is working on a call centre where electricity complaints across the country can be lodged and resolved,” the Minister said, adding that the initiative would also create sustainable job opportunities for young Nigerians.
The Minister also announced plans for a dedicated reporting channel for vandalism of critical electricity infrastructure, enabling Nigerians to alert the authorities to incidents involving transformers, transmission towers and other power assets for faster intervention.
He said the Federal Government was working with the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to tackle the destruction of electricity infrastructure.
Tegbe urged Nigerians, particularly members of the university community, to see the protection of power infrastructure as a shared responsibility and to report vandalism promptly.
The commissioning of the hybrid power project provided the backdrop for the Minister’s call for greater public participation in protecting investments in the power sector.
Delivered under Phase II of the Federal Government’s Energising Education Programme by the Rural Electrification Agency, the project is designed to support teaching, research, laboratories and digital services.
At the same time, its 388 streetlights will enhance visibility and security across the campus.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu, said the establishment of the Renewable Asset Management Company would help ensure that renewable-energy assets are properly managed, maintained and protected after commissioning.
The planned complaints centre and vandalism reporting channel form part of the Federal Government’s broader effort to build a power sector that is more responsive, accountable and connected to the people it serves.
For the Federal Government, the next phase of power-sector reform is not only about building infrastructure, but ensuring that Nigerians have a clear channel to report problems, public assets are protected, and action follows complaints.
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Constitution Review: State Assemblies Await Formal Transmission, Will Act in National Interest — Speakers’ Conference Chairman
The Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, Rt. Hon. Emomotimi Dennis Guwor, says State Houses of Assembly are awaiting the formal transmission of the resolutions of the ongoing Constitution Review exercise from the National Assembly.
Guwor, who is also the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, stated this while reacting to the announcement by the Clerk to the National Assembly that the Sixth Alteration Bill, including the proposed State Police Bill, had been transmitted to State Assemblies.
In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Nkem Nwaeke, the Conference Chairman said the Speakers had taken note of the development but were still expecting the formal copies of the bills.
“We are still awaiting formal transmission and as soon as we receive it, we will do what will be good for the people of Nigeria,” Guwor stated.
He said the Conference would subject the bills to thorough legislative scrutiny based on their merits upon receipt, stressing that the proposal for the establishment of State Police required careful consideration because of its implications for sub-national governance.
Guwor disclosed that the Conference of Speakers intends to engage the leadership of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to harmonise perspectives on the proposed State Policing framework before State Houses of Assembly take their final positions.
According to him, such engagement is necessary given the constitutional responsibilities of Governors and State Legislatures in the proposed reform process.
The Speaker assured that all State Assembly Speakers would be carried along on developments and that resolutions reached by the State Houses of Assembly would be communicated to the National Assembly in accordance with Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has granted a pardon to a popular native doctor, Chidozie Nwangwu, popularly known as “Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki”.
Soludo signed an order for his immediate release on Friday and pledged to work with him for the betterment of Anambra State.
Nwangwu was convicted in February and sentenced to 11 months in prison following a plea bargain at the Awka High Court after pleading guilty to charges related to the practice of “Okeite” and other related matters.
The court had also ordered the destruction of his shrine in Oba, Idemili South Local Government Area of the state.
He was among eight native doctors arrested in 2025 following the passage of the Anambra State Homeland Security Law 2025.
He was charged with involvement in the promotion of money rituals, quick wealth and the use of human parts for rituals.
He was later handed an 11-month prison sentence and incarcerated at the Nigeria Correctional Service facility in Amawbia, Anambra State. He was also given the condition of renouncing his fetish practice and promising to become an ambassador for youth reformation.
Nwangwu accepted the conditions and had been serving his prison term until Soludo pardoned him under the prerogative of mercy, making him Ambassador for Youth Reformation in Anambra State.
The Special Adviser to the governor on Youth Reformation, Dr Nelson Omenugha, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, saying the governor had visited the prison in fulfilment of his duties when he made the announcement.
Omenugha said, “Thank you, Mr Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, for graciously extending your hand of mercy to Chidozie Nwangwu (Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki) and giving him a new responsibility as Ambassador for Youth Reformation.
“This is the heart of Youth Reformation: not just punishment, but correction, restoration, a new purpose and a new Onye Anambra.”
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Constitution Review: State Assemblies Await Formal Transmission, Will Act in National Interest — Speakers’ Conference Chairman
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