Precious Nwonu, Enugu
The Federal Government has warned heads of government-owned agencies and other public institutions against inflating contract costs or violating procurement regulations, threatening sanctions for officials who fail to comply with the law.
The warning was contained in a circular issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, and addressed to ministers, permanent secretaries, heads of agencies and other senior government officials.
Akume expressed concern that several federal government-owned enterprises and corporations continued to award contracts without complying with the Public Procurement Act, 2007, despite its amendment through the Finance Act, 2020.
He said the violations had contributed to inflated contract prices, restricted competition, exclusive arrangements for selected contractors and inadequate regulatory supervision.
The SGF declared that the government would no longer tolerate such practices, directing all government-owned enterprises, corporations, councils, authorities and commissions that utilise public funds to conduct their procurement activities in line with the law.
He also instructed the heads of the affected institutions, who serve as accounting officers, to consult the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for guidance on compliance.
Akume warned that accounting officers who continued to award contracts outside the provisions of the Act would face appropriate sanctions.
The circular further directed that its contents be communicated to all accounting officers for immediate implementation.
The Public Procurement Act established the BPP as the regulatory body responsible for overseeing public procurement, promoting transparency and ensuring competition and value for money in government spending.
Section 15, as amended by the Finance Act 2020, extends the law’s application to federal government-owned enterprises, corporations, councils, authorities and commissions that utilise public funds.
The latest directive comes amid ongoing government efforts to tighten procurement controls and prevent the manipulation of contract costs.
In May 2026, the BPP introduced stricter rules requiring Ministries, Departments and Agencies to obtain its certification before processing contract variations, changes in project scope and additional cost claims.
Under the revised guidelines, all requests for contract variations and modifications must undergo BPP review, regardless of their financial value. The bureau warned that violations could attract sanctions, including the suspension of responsible officers and the possible debarment of contractors.
BPP Director-General, Dr Adebowale Adedokun, had said the reforms were intended to prevent contract variations from becoming a means of increasing project costs beyond approved amounts.
In August 2026, Adedokun also disclosed that the Federal Government had saved about N1.4tn in 18 months through the bureau’s price intelligence and benchmarking initiatives.
He explained that the system enabled the bureau to assess proposed project costs against established pricing standards before approving procurement requests.
The bureau had separately reported savings exceeding N303bn, $304.9m and €1.74m from procurement reviews between January and September 2025.
The latest warning reinforces the government’s position that officials responsible for public procurement must ensure that contracts are awarded transparently, competitively and in accordance with established regulations.
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