NEFGAD commends n’assembly, BPP over passage of procurement reform bill

The Network for the Actualisation of Social Growth and Viable Development (NEFGAD) has commended the national assembly and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for the passage of the 2025 procurement reform bill.

The bill, titled the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (amendment) Bill 2025 and codenamed HB.345, was introduced to amend the 2007 Act to align Nigeria’s procurement framework with global best practices.

The concurrent bill from the house of representatives, was represented by Opeyemi Bamidele, senate leader and senator representing Ekiti central.

In a statement issued on Thursday by Unekwu Blessing Ojo, NEFGAD’s head of office, the group said the amendment would modernise Nigeria’s procurement and supply chain practice to meet global standards.

NEFGAD commended the BPP for providing an enabling environment that supports reform initiatives in the procurement ecosystem.

The group noted that the amendment would end the longstanding disregard for trained and certified procurement professionals who were often reduced to “ordinary purchasers”, a situation it described as harmful to the integrity of the profession.

According to the organisation, the new law would ensure that all procurement and supply chain personnel in both the public and private sectors are duly certified by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (CIPSMN).

“For any person in Nigeria to practise procurement and supply chain management, whether such individual has obtained certification from abroad or within, he or she must as a matter of law become a member of the statutory procurement institute (CIPSMN) by examination and be issued a practising licence, just like what obtains in other recognised professional bodies in Nigeria,” the statement reads.

NEFGAD added that the reform would enable the BPP at both federal and state levels to focus on process regulation and compliance, while the CIPSMN handles certification, standard setting, and ethical practice.

The group said the development would promote a “sustainable partnership” between the BPP and the CIPSMN in line with section 5(k) of the Public Procurement Act 2007.

It added that the reform supports President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda by promoting efficiency, professionalism, and accountability in public expenditure management.