Nigerian Army has in Lagos began a four-day seminar to educate officers on procurement ethics in line with the 2007 Public Procurement Act.

The seminar, which was organised by the Nigerian Army College of Logistics, NACOL, was declared open by the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai who said the seminar would imbue participants with requisite knowledge in procurement ethics, processes and procedures which would aid their invaluable contributions on procurement issues.

According to Buratai who spoke through Chief of Policy and Plans, Major-General Rasheed Yusuf, it also avails multi-dimensional approach to security, building trust and synergy among security agencies and other major stakeholders in the country.

Buratai said the nefarious acts by rebels necessitated the need and formulation of robust strategic procurement process for sustainable operational efficiency in the army to meet its constitutional roles.

“Specifically, the army has established the Directorate of Procurement in line with the Public Procurement Act 2007, which holistically aggregates logistics priority based on needs assessment,” he said.

He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for his encouragement of the efforts at combating prevailing security threats facing the country.

Earlier, in his welcome address, the NACOL Commandant, Brigadier-General Osasogie Uzamere, said the need to sustain the army’s operational efficiency remained key as this was also hinged on the army’s ability to procure necessary material for operations.

“Significant progress has been made in quelling the security threats in the country resulting in gradual return to normalcy and increase of economic activities in the North East and other parts of the country plagued by insecurity,” he said.

The seminar, themed “Enhancing Nigerian Army Procurement Process for Sustainable Operational Efficiency”, was attended by top brass in the military, both serving and retired.