We’re Retraining Officials To Address Corruption In Procurement – Federal Govt

The federal government said it has made the training and retraining of public procurement officials a priority, in order to ensure that the procurement process in the country is not corrupted.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, disclosed this yesterday while declaring open the 2025 Mandatory Continuous Public Procurement Capacity Development Training Programme (MCPPCDTP) in Port Harcourt.

Akume, who was represented by his Technical Adviser, Mr Olusegun Adekunle, said that when the procurement process is corrupted, it becomes difficult to have health care facilities, education and good roads delivered.

He said: “The role of procurement officers in the fight against corruption is at the foundational level. When the procurement process is corrupted, it becomes a national challenge.

“You will not get your health facilities delivered, you will not get good roads delivered, you will not get educational facilities offered, and infrastructure may never be delivered as planned in the budget because the wrong people are getting it, and the wrong processes have been formed.

“National ethics is important, and it is at the centre of this. That is why procurement officers should be trained and retrained at all times.”

In his goodwill message, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said the federal government has entered into partnership with foreign universities so that the government can spend less on training public servants in the country.

Lokpobiri stated that the venue of the training programme, the Centre for Skills Development and Training (CSDT), operated by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), will serve as training centre for the entire West Africa.

“We have entered into partnerships with universities abroad, allowing us to train more people at a lower cost.

“This facility will not only serve Nigeria, but it will also serve the whole of West Africa. Nigeria leads in oil and gas production in West Africa. In Nigeria, oil and gas will remain the major source of Forex, a major source of income,” he said.

In his own goodwill message, executive secretary, PTDF, Mr Ahmed Galadima, said the fund established CSDT and the College of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Kaduna (CPESK), as centres of excellence to ensure that Nigerians have access to high-quality learning experience available in top institutions, while in Nigeria.

Galadima said: “This is why the PTDF established two Centres of Excellence—to ensure that Nigerians can access the same high-quality learning experience available in top institutions abroad, right here in Nigeria.

“The College of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Kaduna (CPESK), established by PTDF, will deliver postgraduate programmes in partnership with the University of Portsmouth, the University of Strathclyde, and Robert Gordon University.

“In addition, the College will train the professionals required to advance Nigeria’s energy sector through collaboration with NNPC Limited and the NNPC Learning Academy.

“Similarly, this Centre where we are gathered today—the Centre for Skills Development and Training—has been designed to provide hands-on vocational training to produce competent middle- and lower-level manpower for the oil, gas, and energy industries through partnerships with both local and international institutions.”