The Equipment Leasing Registration Authority (ELRA) and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formally mainstream leasing in the public procurement regime of Nigeria an action that will promote transparency, efficiency, and fiscal discipline in government administration.
In a press release by ELRA Head of Media and Corporate Communication Adebola Brookslyn Sunday, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer Donald Wokoma described the alliance as a “new chapter in Nigeria’s procurement environment that strengthens accountability and promotes sustainable financial management.”
The two organizations will, through the MoU, work together to develop policy guidelines and standard documents for lease-based procurement, build procurement officers’ capacity in Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), integrate ELRA’s registration system into procurement procedures, and pilot lease initiatives in strategic sectors such as health, education, transport, agriculture, and ICT.
Wokoma commended the Director-General of BPP and his staff for their cooperation, stating that the initiative would reduce financial burdens on government budgets, improve delivery of service, and enhance asset management all in harmony with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
For his part, Director-General of the BPP Dr. Adebowale Adedokun welcomed the collaboration as both “timely and strategic” and stressed leasing offers a sustainable funding tool that offers value for money while maintaining public funds.
“By working in association with ELRA, we are bringing public sector leasing transactions into the open, making them competitive and beneficial to the nation,” he added. He went on to state that all concerned entities engaging in public leasing had to be duly registered with ELRA, reiterating that BPP would enforce compliance before issuing a Certificate of No Objection.”.
The partnership harmonizes the mandates of the two institutions under the Public Procurement Act and the Equipment Leasing Act 2015 into a single and open-ended process for lease-related procurements, a milestone towards effective and sustainable public financial management in Nigeria.
