Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has called on professionals and key stakeholders to actively champion the development of a robust and transparent procurement system across Nigeria.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the Global Chief Executive Officer of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, CIPS, Mr Ben Farrell, and the Institute’s Regional Director for Africa, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Mr Sam Achampong, Governor Sanwo-Olu reaffirmed Lagos State’s longstanding commitment to procurement reforms and best practices.
The Governor stated that Lagos has consistently prioritised a structured and accountable procurement framework, adding that the government is eager to share its wealth of experience with the global procurement community.
He noted: “For us, especially in Lagos State, we have been a strong advocate and a convert of a well-coordinated, transparent procurement process. We pride ourselves that we are one of the first governments and bodies to have institutionalised and started a public procurement process.
“I was privileged to be in government 15 years ago when the conversation started, and we were quick to set up relevant agencies. But over time, one of the things we realised is that we need to also continue to spread out competency. We need to continue to ensure that capacity is deepened and is enriched.
“There is a need for us to ensure that we do it rightly. Here in Lagos, we understand fully the value of a very good, robust procurement system. It helps to anticipate. It helps to negotiate better.”
Mr Ben Farrell expressed CIPS’s commitment to partnering with Nigeria to enhance professional standards in procurement. He stressed the Institute’s readiness to provide long-term capacity-building initiatives tailored to both the public and private sectors.
“We have members in 180 countries, and we share competency, best practice, and build capacity around nations. We are here to support you for the prosperity of Nigeria, to build on the great work of the team in recent years,” he said.
“We came to say that we are going to establish a permanent presence here to work with the Nigerian public and private sector to provide capacity building to drive competence for the benefit and the prosperity of Nigeria. We feel that spreading the knowledge and the competency will really benefit this nation.”
