House comm’tee on public procurement trains members on E-procurement for effective legislative oversight.

By Divine Sam

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Procurement has commenced a capacity-building training programme focused on the adoption and effective utilization of electronic procurement (e-Procurement) systems to enhance legislative oversight functions.

Declaring the training open, the Chairman of the Committee, Rt. Hon. Unyime Idem, emphasized the importance of leveraging technology to improve transparency, accountability, and efficiency in public procurement processes. He noted that e-Procurement presents a transformative opportunity to strengthen legislative oversight and safeguard public resources.

“Public procurement remains one of the largest areas of government expenditure and, regrettably, one of the most vulnerable to inefficiency and abuse. Manual processes, delayed access to data, and fragmented records have often hindered our capacity to carry out timely and effective oversight,” Hon. Idem said.

He stressed that the adoption of e-Procurement systems will provide legislators with real-time access to procurement data, improve project tracking, and enable better performance assessment of government agencies. According to him, this will ensure that public funds are efficiently managed and directed towards projects that directly benefit Nigerian citizens.

“E-Procurement serves as the guardrail that ensures public funds move safely from the national budget to the projects that impact our constituents and the Nigerian people. Our oversight role is the critical bridge between appropriation and delivery,” he added.

Hon. Idem called on Members and Committee staff to actively participate in the training sessions, engage resource persons, and contribute to discussions aimed at deepening their understanding of digital procurement systems.

The training session, which brought together Honourable Members, Committee staff, and procurement experts, is part of ongoing efforts by the House Committee on Public Procurement to strengthen legislative mechanisms that promote good governance and national development.

The event is expected to equip lawmakers with the tools and knowledge necessary to perform more effective oversight functions in line with global best practices.