Reported by Simon Daniel Yusuph l Journalist at Weng Global
Supply chain and procurement professional Zechariah Ndiryiza has urged the Federal Government to deepen the digitisation of Nigeria’s public procurement system, arguing that technology-driven processes can strengthen transparency, improve oversight and reduce opportunities for price manipulation and other procurement irregularities.
Ndiryiza’s call comes as Nigeria continues to expand the use of digital systems within government procurement. The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) moved official procurement submissions towards digital platforms in 2025 and launched a dedicated Digital Submission Portal in 2026 for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Expert Calls for Greater Digital Procurement
Ndiryiza, a procurement and supply chain professional, has argued that public procurement should increasingly operate as a data-driven process rather than relying heavily on manual transactions.
In his recent professional commentary on procurement transformation, he said modern procurement systems should provide clear answers about government spending, supplier performance, procurement risks, costly purchasing categories and transactions that can be automated.
His position places emphasis on using digital systems not simply to replace paperwork but to improve the quality of information available to procurement officers and government decision-makers.
For public procurement, such systems can create digital records of transactions, approvals and supplier interactions, potentially making procurement activities easier to monitor and audit.
Nigeria Already Moving Towards Digital Procurement
The Federal Government has already taken steps towards greater digitalisation of procurement processes.
In August 2025, the BPP announced that MDAs would transition from physical submissions to electronic submission procedures. The move formed part of the government’s wider e-government and digital transformation agenda.
The process was subsequently expanded.
In February 2026, the BPP announced the launch of its Digital Submission Portal and said all MDAs would be required to use the platform from March 1, 2026, for procurement-related requests including applications for “No Objection” certificates, special procurement approvals, clarifications and status updates.
The development represents a shift from physical documentation towards electronically recorded procurement activities.
However, digitising submissions is only one part of a fully digital procurement system. A comprehensive electronic procurement framework can cover the wider procurement cycle, including tendering, supplier registration, evaluation, contract award and contract management.
Digital Systems Can Improve Procurement Visibility
The potential value of digital procurement lies partly in the ability to create a more consistent record of transactions.
Nigeria’s BPP operates P-COMS, a digital procurement compliance monitoring platform designed to allow MDAs to submit procurement plans, initiate processes, request approvals and publish tender advertisements.
The platform also includes functions for vendor eligibility verification, standardised templates and compliance reviews. The BPP says the system is intended to strengthen transparency, accountability and compliance.
Such systems can make it easier for regulators to monitor procurement activities across government institutions.
They can also create data that can be analysed to identify unusual purchasing patterns, repeated supplier relationships, significant price variations or delays in procurement processes.
These capabilities do not automatically eliminate corruption, but they can increase the amount of information available for oversight and make some transactions more traceable.
Price Manipulation and Procurement Risks
Public procurement involves substantial government spending, making the integrity of purchasing decisions important to the management of public resources.
Government agencies have previously identified problems including conflict of interest, kickbacks, bribery, unrealistic costing, abandoned projects and reduced value for money as challenges that procurement controls are intended to address.
The National Productivity Centre, for example, identifies realistic costing, competitive bidding, transparency and value for money among the objectives of procurement controls.
The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment similarly lists the elimination of contract inflation, project abandonment and frivolous expenditure among the objectives of its procurement framework.
Against this background, digital procurement could help strengthen controls by reducing reliance on undocumented or poorly traceable processes.
Electronic records can also make it easier to compare procurement prices, monitor approvals and establish an audit trail.
However, technology alone cannot guarantee that procurement will be free from manipulation. Effective oversight, enforcement, cybersecurity, trained personnel and transparent procurement rules remain necessary.
From Digital Submission to End-to-End E-Procurement
A more comprehensive electronic government procurement system can extend beyond document submission.
Nigeria’s public-sector e-GP framework describes electronic procurement as the use of information and communications technology to conduct government procurement relationships with suppliers.
Such systems can incorporate electronic tendering, notification, supplier registration, evaluation, contract awarding and contract management.
An end-to-end approach could allow procurement information to remain digitally traceable from the initial identification of a government need through the tendering process and ultimately to contract completion.
This could provide regulators and authorised oversight bodies with a more complete picture of how public contracts are awarded and implemented.
Data Could Strengthen Oversight
One of the broader opportunities presented by digitisation is the creation of procurement data that can be examined systematically.
Ndiryiza’s recent work on procurement transformation emphasises the importance of knowing where organisations spend money, identifying supplier risks and understanding which purchasing categories are becoming more expensive.
Applied to public procurement, such information could help government agencies identify patterns requiring further examination.
For example, repeated purchases from the same suppliers, unusual price movements or frequent emergency procurement could be flagged for review.
Such indicators would not, by themselves, establish wrongdoing. They would instead provide information that auditors, regulators and investigators could use to determine whether further scrutiny is warranted.
Transparency Requires More Than Technology
While digital systems can improve traceability, their effectiveness depends on how they are implemented.
A digital platform that merely transfers an inefficient manual process onto a computer may not solve the underlying problem.
Ndiryiza has similarly argued that organisations should first identify the procurement problems they are trying to solve before deciding which technology to deploy.
For government, this means digital procurement reforms would need to be accompanied by clear rules, standardised procedures, adequate training and strong accountability mechanisms.
There are also practical issues involving data security, system reliability, interoperability between government platforms and access for legitimate suppliers.
BPP Expanding Digital Oversight
The BPP’s existing digital systems indicate that the Federal Government’s procurement reform agenda is already moving in this direction.
The agency describes P-COMS as a platform for real-time monitoring of procurement activities and says its digital processes are intended to reduce manual errors and strengthen compliance with the Public Procurement Act.
The 2026 Digital Submission Portal is another step towards reducing dependence on physical documentation.
The challenge now is whether these systems can be integrated into a broader procurement environment in which information flows efficiently between procurement entities, regulators, suppliers, auditors and other authorised oversight institutions.
Why It Matters
Public procurement affects government infrastructure, healthcare, education, security, transportation and other services that depend on public spending.
Improving procurement systems can therefore have consequences beyond administrative efficiency.
When procurement processes are properly documented and monitored, government institutions can have better information for assessing costs, supplier performance and contract implementation.
Greater visibility can also support efforts to ensure that public funds deliver value for citizens.
For Nigeria, the wider objective is not simply to make procurement paperless. It is to create a system in which decisions are traceable, competition is supported, risks can be detected earlier and public resources can be monitored more effectively.
What Happens Next
The Federal Government and the BPP are expected to continue expanding digital procurement processes across MDAs.
The immediate priority is likely to be effective implementation of existing digital platforms, including onboarding government institutions, ensuring compliance and strengthening the capacity of procurement personnel.
Further development of end-to-end electronic procurement could also expand digital monitoring from document submission to tendering, evaluation, contract award and implementation.
Ndiryiza’s proposal adds to the broader discussion about how technology can be used to strengthen Nigeria’s public procurement system. The effectiveness of such reforms will ultimately depend on the combination of digital infrastructure, institutional capacity, transparent rules and consistent enforcement.
Weng Global – stories beyond borders
Sources
- Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP)
- Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation
- Zechariah Ndiryiza, professional procurement commentary
- National Productivity Centre
- Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment
