By Yisa Usman MSc, FCA, FCTI
In Nigeria, conversations about governance almost always begin and end with the people in power. We complain about bad leadership, we demand reforms, we organise protests, and we flood social media with hashtags. We believe the problem is “them”, the politicians, the appointees, the government. And we say everything else would fall into place if they would just change. A comforting belief that ignores the uncomfortable truth that leadership is a reflection of the society it comes from. The ethics, values and habits of those in high office often magnify a version of the attitudes common among the people they lead.
Public procurement is the process by which governments buy goods, services, and works for the benefit of the public. Procurement sounds technical but it is the quiet engine of development. If it runs well, schools have desks, hospitals have equipment, roads last for decades, and communities get clean water. If it is abused, billions vanish into the wrong pockets, projects collapse before completion, and the public loses faith not only in government but in the idea of collective progress itself. Sadly, the process is characterized by compromises that seem to redefine expected attitudes.
Nigeria has not been short of laws to guide procurement. The Public Procurement Act of 2007 was supposed to be a turning point. It set out clear processes: competitive bidding, transparent evaluation, value-for-money spending. It established the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to monitor compliance, certify contracts above thresholds, and sanction violators. The Act also set up Procurement Planning Committees in MDAs to align procurement with budgets and Ministerial Tenders Boards to approve contracts within their financial limits. The Act was designed to entrench principles of transparency, competition, accountability, fairness, and efficiency.
The framework for public procurement is not governed by the Public Procurement Act alone. Several fiscal and anti-corruption laws also provide important guardrails to ensure integrity and accountability in the spending of public funds. The Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007 plays a crucial role in this regard. Part XI of the Act emphasizes transparency and accountability in fiscal operations, while Part VIII on public expenditures mandates that all contracts and spending must comply with procurement rules, due process, and budgetary provisions. Sections 36 to 38 specifically require that increases in government spending or personnel costs must be backed by budgetary approval and executed through proper channels, with violations treated as offences. The FRA also establishes the Fiscal Responsibility Commission to enforce compliance, monitor spending patterns, and ensure that procurement practices align with fiscal discipline.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act (ICPC Act) strengthens the fight against procurement abuse by directly criminalising certain misconduct by public officials. Section 19 prohibits public officers from using their positions to confer undue advantages on themselves or associates, a safeguard against conflicts of interest in contract awards. Section 22(3) penalises inflation of contract costs beyond prevailing market rates, while Section 22(4) makes it an offence to award contracts without lawful budgetary approval. Section 22(5) prohibits the diversion of funds from one project to another without authorisation. Together, these provisions target some of the most common avenues of procurement-related corruption, reinforcing the principle that public resources must serve public needs.
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The Financial Regulations (2009) provide the operational backbone for fiscal discipline in procurement, outlining the procedures for budget preparation, expenditure control, payments, custody of public funds, and reporting obligations for ministries, departments, and agencies. These regulations are supported by the Federal Treasury Circulars and Accounting Manual. They ensure uniformity of standards in procurement transactions with regard to transparency, documentation, and approval. Section 415 of the Financial Regulations specifically requires that due economy is exercised in public expenditure and that money must not be spent merely because it has been voted.
While the FRA and ICPC Acts provide statutory authority for procurement discipline, the Financial Regulations offer the practical day-to-day rules that make compliance possible, bridging the gap between legal requirements and operational reality. Despite these safeguards, however, the abuse of procurement processes is still common. It is not because the rules are unclear, but because the human beings entrusted with the rules are sometimes more committed to personal gain than public service.
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The truth is that procurement abuse doesn’t begin in the corridors of power. It begins in the small, everyday acts of dishonesty we have normalised as a people. The civil servant who manipulates tender documents to favour a contractor may once have been the teenager who cheated in exams, the employee who came to work late but expected full pay, or the driver who routinely ignored traffic laws because “everyone does it.” These seemingly harmless shortcuts form habits, and those habits don’t disappear when someone rises to a position of authority, they simply operate on a bigger scale.
We can pretend that these little acts are unrelated to governance, but they are deeply connected. The public official who inflates a contract figure learned long ago that bending the rules can be rewarding. The contractor who delivers substandard materials to a government project grew up believing that as long as you can “settle” those in charge, quality is optional. These behaviours are not accidents; they are the predictable result of a culture that tolerates, even celebrates, cutting corners.
And this is where the plight of those who stand firm against procurement abuse becomes so pronounced. In a system where wrongdoing has been normalised, doing the right thing can make you the enemy. The procurement officers who refuse to sign off on a manipulated bid can suddenly find themselves transferred, sidelined, or threatened. Whistleblowers, those brave enough to call out wrongdoing, often face retaliation, from subtle career sabotage to outright intimidation. The pressure to conform is immense, because saying “no” to abuse in procurement is not just a professional decision, it is a moral stand that can cost you friendships, promotions, and peace of mind.
Yet these acts of resistance matter more than we realise. Every time an officer rejects an inflated invoice, every time a contractor delivers exactly what was agreed in the contract, every time a citizen demands to see the records of how public funds were spent, we chip away at a culture of impunity. These small victories are the building blocks of good governance.
Reform will require structural changes as well. Procurement processes should be fully transparent, with all tender documents, bid evaluations, and contract awards made publicly accessible online. Citizens should be able to see, in real time, who won a contract, how much it was worth, and whether it was delivered on schedule and to standard. Breaches of procurement rules must be investigated swiftly, and punishments must be applied without regard for political connections. Whistleblowers should be shielded by strong legal protections, not left to fend for themselves after risking everything to speak out.
Ethics training is essential for all officials involved in procurement, because technical skills alone cannot produce integrity. This training must go beyond theory, confronting officials with real-life dilemmas and equipping them to make the hard, unpopular choices that true accountability requires. The citizens too need education, to understand that procurement is not just a bureaucratic exercise but the mechanism through which their taxes are turned into tangible services. A citizen who knows this is less likely to shrug off corruption as “business as usual.”
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Good governance in procurement will not come from one sweeping change, but from a thousand daily acts of integrity. It will come when the official at the procurement desk treats every bidder equally, when the contractor delivers exactly what they were paid to deliver, when the civil servant sees public funds as a sacred trust rather than a personal opportunity. It will come when we, as citizens, stop looking for ways to cheat systems meant to serve us and start protecting them instead.
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There is a saying that a society gets the leaders it deserves. If dishonesty is normal among the people, it will be normal among their leaders. If our default reaction to any system is to figure out how to bend it, then we cannot be surprised when the people we elect do the same. Procurement is one of the clearest mirrors of this truth as it reveals whether we value fairness over favouritism, quality over shortcuts, and the public good over personal advantage.
We can change this picture, but only if we are willing to start with ourselves. The same commitment we demand from those at the top must be the commitment we live out at our own level. The procurement process is only as strong as the values of those who run it. If we want it to work for the benefit of all Nigerians, we must each decide, in the small and big moments alike, to choose integrity over convenience.
Good governance in public procurement is not just about preventing theft, it is about building a country where public resources are used wisely, fairly, and for the purpose they were intended. It is about ensuring that the taxes of a market trader in Okene, a spare part dealer in Aba, a teacher in Taraba, a farmer in Kano and a civil servant in Ibadan all translate into real improvements in their communities. And it is about understanding that the fight for such a system begins not only in the halls of power, but in the daily choices of each citizen.
If we truly want a Nigeria where public procurement serves the people, then integrity must not be something we expect only from “them” in government. It must be something we practice, protect, and pass on ourselves. That is the foundation of good governance. And without it, no law, no agency, and no protest will be enough to save our procurement system from abuse.
Yisa Usman is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria. He is a doctoral candidate in Corporate Governance and writes from Abuja. Email: topusman@gmail.com; 08037050981.
