The Federal Government has dismissed a report by the United States Department of State alleging that Nigeria lacks transparency in its public procurement process.
The 2025 Fiscal Transparency Report had listed Nigeria among 32 African countries said to have made little or no progress in the fiscal policy space. While acknowledging that Nigeria had improved in publishing budget documents and debt obligations, the report faulted the country for failing to disclose information on public procurement contracts.
It also criticised the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation for not publishing comprehensive audit reports, citing weak institutional independence as a major setback.
The report recommended that Nigeria should strengthen the independence of its supreme audit institution, make procurement information easily accessible, and publish timely audit reports of executed budgets.
Out of 139 countries and the Palestinian Authority assessed, the report found that 71 governments met minimum fiscal transparency standards, while 69—including Nigeria—did not.
BPP: US report outdated, misleading
In response, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) described the claims as false and not reflective of reforms currently underway.
BPP Director-General, Dr. Adebowale Adedokun, said President Bola Tinubu’s administration has overhauled the procurement process to ensure accountability and fairness.
“Prior to his assumption of office, there were issues. But since he undertook procurement reforms, things have changed. Contracts are now advertised, benchmarked, and subjected to price intelligence,” Adedokun said.
He stressed that procurement audits, decentralisation of processes, and higher approval limits for agencies have improved transparency, while electronic procurement and digitalisation efforts are ongoing.
The DG also pointed to the active involvement of civil society, professional bodies, and anti-graft agencies such as the ICPC, EFCC, Police, and Code of Conduct Bureau in monitoring compliance.
Adedokun added that even foreign companies have successfully bid for and won contracts online without political connections or physical presence in Nigeria, which he described as “clear evidence of transparency.”
He further revealed that contractors are now confident enough to report infractions directly to BPP, with wrongly awarded contracts being reversed in favour of legitimate winners.
“Yes, we can do better, but have we done better? We have done better in the last one and a half years,” he said.
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