The Federal High Court in Abuja has deferred judgment in the suit between the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria and the Bureau of Public Procurement after granting an application by the Nigerian Society of Engineers to be joined as the third defendant in the case.
Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu granted the application after counsel to the claimant and the existing defendants indicated that they had no objection to the request.
Speaking to journalists after the proceedings, counsel to the claimant, Salifu Oguche, explained that the court was unable to deliver its scheduled judgment because the Nigerian Society of Engineers had filed an application on July 2, 2026, seeking to be joined as the third defendant in the suit.
Oguche disclosed that the application was served on the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria and the existing defendants on July 3. He said that when the matter came up on Tuesday, the court informed all parties that it had received the application for joinder, prompting the suspension of the planned judgment.
He noted that, with the consent of all parties, the court proceeded to hear the application, stressing that no party opposed the request.
“The application for joinder was not objected to by any of the parties, and the court accordingly granted it, making the Nigerian Society of Engineers the third defendant in the suit,” Oguche said.
Following the ruling, Justice Egwuatu adjourned the matter until September 22, 2026, for the re-adoption of final written addresses, after which a new date for judgment will be fixed.
Earlier in the proceedings, the Federal Ministry of Justice, the second defendant in the suit, argued that while the Bureau of Public Procurement has the statutory responsibility to train procurement professionals, it does not have the legal authority to certify them. The position forms part of the issues before the court in the dispute involving procurement regulation and professional certification in Nigeria.
