Ekeh to FG: Stop foreign firms from hijacking public contracts

Chairman of Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh, has called on the Federal Government to give Nigerian businesses greater priority in public contracts, saying such a policy is critical to building local capacity, creating jobs and strengthening the country’s digital economy.

Ekeh made the call at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), held under the theme, “Beyond Limits.”

Speaking at a high-level session titled, “E-Commerce and Procurement: Transforming Public Contracting through Digital Systems, Transparency and Local Capacity Development,” Ekeh described the Nigeria First Policy as a major protection for creatively ambitious Nigerian entrepreneurs.

He argued that Nigeria could not build a sustainable digital economy if indigenous businesses were continually sidelined in favour of foreign alternatives.

According to him, government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) should prioritise homegrown goods, services and innovations where the necessary local capacity exists, while ensuring that Nigerian businesses maintain the standards required to compete globally.

Ekeh said the benefits of prioritising local businesses would go beyond protecting indigenous companies, noting that it could create a dependable domestic market for Nigerian innovators and reduce the country’s excessive reliance on imported technology.

He added that government procurement, when properly deployed, could become a major catalyst for investment, innovation, skills development and sustainable job creation.

The Zinox chairman also called for stronger enforcement of the Nigeria First Policy, including appropriate sanctions by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) against entities that fail to comply with applicable procurement requirements.

He stressed that policies designed to promote local capacity would have limited impact without effective implementation and enforcement.

The discussion also focused on the growing role of digital systems in public contracting, with participants highlighting the importance of e-procurement platforms, government cloud infrastructure, data protection safeguards and digital audit trails.

Such systems, they noted, could improve transparency, accountability and efficiency in public procurement by creating clearer records of procurement decisions and transactions, while reducing opportunities for manipulation.

The speakers also emphasised the role of the legal profession in the transformation of public procurement.

They noted that lawyers would increasingly need to understand the intersection between technology, procurement and regulation as they draft contracts, ensure compliance, manage procurement risks and handle emerging procurement disputes.

Other speakers at the session included Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Dr Adebowale Adedokun; Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi; Director-General of the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, Fatai Idowu Onafowote; Director-General of the Kaduna State Public Procurement Authority, Engr. Sanusi Aminu Yero; and Andrew Osemedua Odom.

The session was coordinated by Dr Faith Amarachi Okpara, Vice Chairman of the Data Privacy Lawyers Association of Nigeria.

The call comes amid growing concerns over Nigeria’s dependence on imported technology and the need to deepen indigenous capacity across the technology and digital sectors.

Ekeh maintained that supporting Nigerian businesses should not be interpreted as shutting out foreign competition.

Rather, he argued, local companies must be given sufficient opportunities to build scale, develop expertise, invest in innovation and become strong enough to compete in the global marketplace.

He said the effective implementation of the Nigeria First Policy could transform public procurement from merely a process for purchasing goods and services into an important economic development instrument.

For Nigerian entrepreneurs developing solutions to local problems, he noted, greater access to public contracts could provide the market confidence needed to invest, expand operations, create employment and develop globally competitive products and services.

The discussion was particularly relevant to the NBA’s “Beyond Limits” theme, with participants highlighting the need for Nigeria to move beyond being primarily a consumer of foreign technology and build an economy driven by local innovation, talent, manufacturing and intellectual property.

Ekeh’s position was that protecting and developing local capacity should not be about avoiding global competition, but about ensuring that Nigerian businesses are sufficiently strong to compete within it.