Procurement Strategy Selection for Public Architecture Projects in North Central Nigeria: A Professional Analysis

Procurement strategy selection for public architecture projects is a professional decision of significant consequence for project delivery outcomes, value for money, and risk allocation between government clients and the private sector, yet the appropriateness and outcomes of procurement choices in North Central Nigerian public projects have not been professionally analysed. This study analyses procurement strategy selection and delivery performance in twenty publicly commissioned architectural projects in Niger, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nassarawa, Plateau, and Abuja FCT states. Project documentation analysis and semi-structured interviews with fifteen government client representatives and twenty project architects examined the factors influencing procurement strategy choice, the alignment between selected strategy and project complexity, and the relationship between procurement strategy and cost and time performance outcomes. Results indicate that competitive traditional tender, with design by the government architect, remains the dominant procurement approach, used in eighteen of twenty projects. Design-build procurement was employed in two projects, both initiated by international donor organisations. Traditional procurement produced cost overruns exceeding fifteen percent of contracted sum in fourteen projects, primarily attributable to design changes initiated post-contract. Contractor insolvency disrupted three projects. The study finds that the persistent use of traditional procurement without adequate pre-contract design completion is the primary driver of public project cost and time overruns in the study region. Recommendations propose a procurement strategy selection guide for state ministries of works, mandating design completion levels appropriate to project complexity before tender invitation. Keywords: procurement strategy, public architecture, North Central Nigeria, project delivery, construction management.