Civil Groups Back Tinubu’s Procurement Reforms

Some civil society organisations (CSOs) have endorsed the federal government’s ongoing public procurement reforms, describing them as critical to transparency, fiscal discipline and improved value for money in public spending.

At a media briefing in Abuja yesterday, the national coordinator of the Northern Youth Integrity Group (NYIG), Malcolm Adakole and the national president of the Oduduwa Development Initiative (ODI), Ambassador Akinyele Olasumbo, said the reforms aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda and were aimed at correcting long-standing structural weaknesses in Nigeria’s procurement system.

“We have convened this address to clarify our position on recent developments surrounding Nigeria’s public procurement reform process and to place important facts and principles on record. Our intervention is not motivated by personalities, political affiliations or institutional loyalties, but by our commitment to governance reform, fiscal discipline and the national interest,” Adakole said.

Also, Olasumbo said public procurement reform remains central to Nigeria’s economic recovery and institutional credibility, noting that weak oversight in the past had enabled inefficiency, cost inflation and procedural abuse.

According to the groups, the current reform measures include the rationalisation of procurement approval thresholds, strengthened prior-review and compliance mechanisms, standardised bidding and evaluation documents, enforceable sanctions against defaulting contractors, and a gradual transition to a comprehensive electronic procurement system.

They stressed that Nigeria cannot achieve sustainable economic growth, infrastructure renewal or improved service delivery if public procurement remains opaque, discretionary and resistant to oversight.

The civil society leaders acknowledged that resistance to the reforms was inevitable, arguing that entrenched interests benefitting from weak controls would naturally oppose rules-based governance.

“We have chosen to stay away from unsubstantiated allegations and pressures from external actors seeking to use civil society to settle personal scores,” Olasumbo said, adding that advocacy must remain evidence-based and responsible.

The groups said they reject sponsored narratives, anonymous claims and coordinated misinformation campaigns that undermine procurement reform under the guise of accountability.

They reaffirmed that procurement reform is a governance necessity and must be protected from politicisation or rollback.

The Northern Youth Integrity Group, the Oduduwa Development Initiative and other civil society partners jointly signed the briefing.