Change is inevitable. But implementing it always meets resistance from within and outside. Since assuming office about two years ago, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Dr Adebowale Adedokun, FCIPS, has faced that resistance head-on with a reform agenda aimed at transforming Nigeria’s procurement ecosystem.
He came in at a time when confidence in the Bureau was low. It was gathered that before his appointment, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had considered shutting down the BPP, noting that it had “outlived its usefulness.” The period leading to 2023 was widely described as an era of “anything goes” at the Bureau.
This was captured by former BPP DG, Dr Emeka Eze, at the inaugural edition of “The Procurement Evolution” in June this year. Dr Eze, now Chairman of the FCT Civil Service Commission and pioneer DG of BPP from 2007 to February 2016, said he was the subject of numerous petitions during his tenure for blocking improper benefits from the procurement system.
“For nine years that I was DG, there were petitions flying everywhere. Fireworks everywhere. But after I left, for another eight years, no petitions, no fireworks,” Dr Eze said.
He added: “The moment the current DG (Dr Adedokun) resumed, I noticed the fireworks and petitions have resumed again. It means there is something we are doing right which some people do not want. After I left office, I met one of those behind the petitions and asked why he had gone quiet. He said, ‘You blocked us from chopping.’”
