The Network for Public Procurement Advocacy and Development (NEFGAD) on Tuesday questioned the Bureau of Public Procurement’s (BPP) defence of the United States’ 2025 Fiscal Transparency Report, which flagged Nigeria for not disclosing information on public procurement contracts.

The U.S. Department of State, in its Fiscal Transparency Report released this month, said Nigeria had made progress in publishing budget documents and debt obligations but continued to withhold details of procurement contracts.

It noted that such gaps undermine accountability and weaken good governance.

The report, which reviewed 139 countries and the Palestinian Authority, found that 71 governments met minimum fiscal transparency requirements while 69 did not. Of the 69, 26 had made significant progress.

Nigeria was listed among 32 African countries still lagging behind, alongside Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Cameroon, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Chad, Angola, Gabon, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, São Tomé and Príncipe, Burundi and Tanzania.

The report also pointed to the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation for not publishing comprehensive budget-execution audits despite having access to the executed budget. It added that the office did not meet international standards of independence, urging Nigeria to strengthen the institution and make procurement contracts publicly accessible.

Other recommendations in the report included the timely publication of executive proposals, enacted budgets, end-of-year reports, as well as disclosure of natural resource extraction contracts and licenses.

Reacting to the report, the Director-General of the BPP, Dr. Adebowale Adedokun, dismissed the U.S. findings, describing them as outdated and not reflective of recent reforms.

He said procurement reforms introduced under President Bola Tinubu had brought greater transparency and accountability, citing open advertisement of contracts, online bidding, procurement audits, and monitoring by civil society groups.

According to him, decentralisation of procurement processes, higher approval limits for ministries and agencies, and the transition to electronic government procurement were strengthening the system.

He added that contractors now petition the Bureau directly, sometimes leading to contract awards being reversed, and that anti-graft agencies were investigating and prosecuting procurement violations.

In a statement issued in Abuja, NEFGAD maintained that the U.S. assessment reflected the reality of procurement practices in Nigeria and aligned with its own monitoring over the past year.

The group expressed concern that procurement information was not consistently accessible to the public and that recent policy documents had limited impact. It also said stakeholder engagement by the Bureau needed to be more sustained to build trust and deliver results.

NEFGAD further raised questions about the Bureau’s current leadership, urging government to strengthen the institution to deliver the level of transparency and accountability required.