The Lagos State Government is drawing up a decade-long plan to overhaul public procurement, with a focus on digital processes, tighter compliance and better value for public spending as it works towards its 2036 development vision.
The plan is being developed by the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency in collaboration with the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme, which convened a four-day technical retreat on Tuesday to assess existing practices and establish priorities for reform.
The exercise brings together procurement officers, technical experts, consultants, civil society representatives and officials from ministries, departments and agencies, including the health sector and local governments.
The Director-General of the agency, Fatai Onafowote, said the roadmap was intended to strengthen procurement institutions and ensure reforms remained in place beyond the tenure of current officials.
“In all the things we are doing, we are not only thinking of today; we are also mindful of tomorrow. Even when we are no longer here, we must have laid a legacy and made history,” he said.
Onafowote said the priorities included compliance with procurement laws, improved capacity for procurement officers, sustainable procurement practices and ensuring that government expenditure translated into value through public projects.
He also disclosed that Lagos had moved away from expensive, off-the-shelf foreign software packages around 2019 in favour of a locally developed platform tailored to Nigeria’s regulatory and operational environment.
According to him, the platform operates on a Software as a Service model, allowing continuous upgrades, security improvements and adjustments based on feedback from users.
He said the state was exploring wider application of the technology across healthcare, local government administration, infrastructure and urban development, while some local governments were showing interest in digitising their bid-opening processes.
The shift towards digital procurement is intended to improve transparency and efficiency, although the proposed roadmap will also need to address compliance, implementation and accountability across the agencies responsible for public spending.
The RoLAC State Coordinator, Ajibola Ijimakinwa, represented by Samson Onwusonye, said the partnership was designed to strengthen institutions rather than deliver short-term results.
She noted that although RoLAC’s current programme cycle would end next year, its interventions were intended to support longer-term institutional development, with data, structures and evidence generated through the programme informing future reforms.
Ijimakinwa urged participants to make substantive contributions to the retreat, saying their recommendations would help shape future policy and regulatory improvements.
The retreat’s facilitator, Chibuzor Ekwekwo of A.E. Law Partnership, said procurement reform should be based on evidence and a realistic assessment of existing strengths, weaknesses and operational challenges.
In a presentation on strategic alignment and Vision 2036 mapping, Ekwekwo described public procurement as a central part of modern public financial management, stressing the need for clear priorities and an assessment of current practices before setting long-term targets.
He said Lagos was increasingly being looked to by other states and countries as a reference point for procurement, adding that the exercise offered an opportunity to consolidate existing progress and identify areas requiring further reform.