Enterprise procurement leaders have warned that Nigerian companies risk operational decline and possible business extinction if they fail to urgently embrace digital procurement systems, automate manual workflows, and build stronger collaboration across departments.
The warning was a key highlight at the Digital Procurement Africa Summit 2026, where experts said resistance to automation, weak stakeholder engagement, and continued dependence on manual procurement processes are exposing organisations to hidden financial leakages, talent drain, and growing competitive threats.
Speakers at the summit said businesses that continue to delay procurement digitisation could become structurally disadvantaged within the next 12 to 24 months as faster, data-driven competitors accelerate decision-making and improve operational efficiency through automation and artificial intelligence.
Speakers at the summit said businesses that continue to delay procurement digitisation could become structurally disadvantaged within the next 12 to 24 months as faster, data-driven competitors accelerate decision-making and improve operational efficiency through automation and artificial intelligence.
Digital procurement: Businesses face 24-month deadline over delay
The concerns were raised during the summit’s second panel session, themed Reclaiming Executive Time Through Automation, which explored how governance reforms, automation, and artificial intelligence are reshaping procurement operations and improving organisational resilience.
The panelists included Kayode Momoh, the Chief Operating Officer at Berger Paints Nigeria PLC; Modupe Oyeneyin, Division Manager, Supply Chain and Procurement, Oando Energy Resources; and Cephas Adebuameh, Group Director, Supply Chain, Flour Mills Nigeria PLC.
The panelists said the traditional corporate structure, where IT departments independently develop digital tools and hand them over to procurement teams, is no longer sustainable in a rapidly evolving business environment.
Instead, they argued that organisations must align executives, procurement teams, IT departments and employees from the earliest stages of digital transformation to avoid costly implementation failures and business stagnation.
She explained that one of the biggest barriers to digital procurement adoption remains executive resistance, particularly where business leaders fail to immediately see the financial returns of automation or are uncomfortable with the transparency digital systems introduce.
According to the panelists, successful procurement modernisation depends on transparency, broad internal engagement and dismantling operational silos, not simply introducing technology for technology’s sake.
“I believe there is a need for collaboration because some of the things I see with the IT team sometimes is that they sit in their team, they craft a solution for you, and then they come and say, take the solution,” Oyeneyin said.
She explained that one of the biggest barriers to digital procurement adoption remains executive resistance, particularly where business leaders fail to immediately see the financial returns of automation or are uncomfortable with the transparency digital systems introduce.
According to her, organisations can overcome that resistance by clearly demonstrating the financial losses tied to inefficient manual procurement systems.
He cited the scale of procurement operations at Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, noting that the organisation processed more than 6,400 transactions and 2,900 bills in a single month, volumes he said would be difficult to manage efficiently without automation.
“For top executives, let them see that their lack of digitalisation is actually causing value erosion. When they see that, they will be the ones championing this change,” Oyeneyin said.
The panel also highlighted how manual procurement workflows continue to trap senior executives in repetitive approval cycles and low-value transactions, reducing the time available for strategic leadership and business expansion.
Adebuameh said organisations deploying automated procurement workflows with strong internal controls are better positioned to scale efficiently and eliminate waste.
He cited the scale of procurement operations at Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, noting that the organisation processed more than 6,400 transactions and 2,900 bills in a single month, volumes he said would be difficult to manage efficiently without automation.
According to him, digital systems reduce hidden costs, improve visibility and remove long-standing opacity from procurement transactions.
“There are a lot of hidden costs, particularly in the indirect procurement space. A lot of hidden leakages and a lot of opacity would be removed from the transactions,” Adebuameh said.
He issued one of the summit’s strongest warnings, saying companies that continue to rely on outdated procurement systems may struggle to survive.
“If you continue to stay in the old ways of manually processing your procurement systems, it’s just a matter of time before you run out of business,” he said.
Speakers at the summit described the risk as more than operational inefficiency, warning that delayed digital adoption could rapidly erode competitiveness as automated businesses gain speed, agility and stronger data intelligence.
They said companies that digitise procurement workflows are able to access real-time business intelligence, make faster decisions and respond more effectively to changing market conditions, advantages manual systems cannot easily replicate.
The panel warned that organisations remaining structurally behind because of outdated procurement practices could be overtaken and forced out of the market within the next 18 to 24 months.
The summit also examined the growing role of artificial intelligence in procurement operations, with participants noting that platforms such as Globo are already driving efficiency gains across African organisations.
Despite that shift, panelists agreed that automation must still operate with human oversight.
Momoh advocated a human-in-the-loop model, saying AI should support professional judgment rather than replace it.
“You need human intervention to judge the results… particularly if you do a prompt, for instance, you must have the knowledge of what you are prompting about. You must be able to decipher if the information that you are getting is relevant or not,” Momoh said.
The speakers said digitised procurement systems also strengthen institutional continuity by preserving supplier history, transaction records and decision trails beyond any single employee.
According to the panel, businesses that continue to depend on legacy paperwork risk being overtaken by competitors that leverage automation and data-driven systems to improve procurement speed and market responsiveness.
Nigeria’s public sector has also intensified procurement digitisation efforts through the Bureau of Public Procurement and its Procurement Compliance Monitoring Service (P-COMS), a platform designed to enable real-time monitoring and digitisation of procurement activities across government agencies.
In a statement posted on his verified X handle on Tuesday, Oyebamiji said he respected the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
INEC declared Adeleke the winner after he polled 511,067 votes, defeating Oyebamiji, who secured 444,815 votes.
Reacting, Oyebamiji applauded APC supporters and party leaders across the state for their commitment to his campaign.
According to the APC candidate, he remained grateful to those who believed in the alternative vision presented to voters.
“Although we had hoped for a different outcome in the election, in the meantime, we respect the position of the electoral umpire, and I totally support the decision of our party in its ongoing review of the outcome of the election,” he said.
He further stated that the end of the campaign did not mean the end of the issues and values for which his campaign stood.
“The campaign has come to an end and the election is over, but the values and causes we championed are alive.
“We will continue to work for effective, inclusive and rapid development of our dear Osun,” he added.
The Inspector-General of Police, Tunde Disu, has warned Nigerians against taking the law into their own hands, declaring that anyone who assaults or kills a suspect through mob action, popularly known as jungle justice, will face murder charges.
Speaking in a viral video, the IGP said mob justice can no longer be excused as community action, stressing that those involved in such acts risk the death penalty under Nigerian law.
“Anybody who assaults or summarily executes a suspected criminal in the name of mob action is guilty of murder. And the punishment for murder is death,” Disu stated.
The police chief also warned that those who incite, organise, film, circulate videos of mob attacks, or prevent police intervention could be prosecuted for conspiracy to commit murder, which carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
Disu revealed that he has directed Commissioners of Police across the 36 states and the FCT to treat every case of mob action as homicide and conduct full-scale investigations using available forensic and intelligence tools.
“We are not going to spare anybody who is involved in mob action. We will do a thorough investigation, and we will take them to court,” he said.
The inspector’s directive comes amid growing concerns over extrajudicial killings, including the recent death of 25-year-old University of Jos graduate Ibrahim Mbaya, who was allegedly beaten to death after being accused of stealing an iPhone 12.
The Nigeria Police urged citizens to report suspects to law enforcement agencies instead of resorting to violence.
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