Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Procurement Process of Public Construction Projects in Kaduna, Nigeria

Abstract

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic world over serves as a major threat to the successful completion of the procurement process. This has adversely affected the timely completion of the procurement process, resulting to delay in the completion of construction projects in Nigeria. This study evaluated the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the procurement process of public construction projects in Kaduna. The study adopted the quantitative research approach. Data were collected using structured questionnaire administered on 70 professionals in Federal Ministry of Works, Kaduna. Relative Importance Index (RII) was used for data analysis. The study revealed that the procurement activity most likely to be affected by COVID-19 pandemic is: “Tender opening information” (RII = 0.90); the most significant impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the success of the procurement process is “Delays in procurement process” (RII = 0.91); and the most effective strategy for enhancing the timely completion of procurement process amidst the wave of COVID-19 pandemic was “Implementing public health measures” (RII = 0.89). It was concluded that the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the procurement process of public construction projects in Kaduna, Nigeria is significant. The major recommendation from the study was that Government should develop a mechanism for enhancing the timely completion of procurement process amidst the wave of COVID-19 pandemic or related world health issues in public construction projects using the components of the strategies proposed in this study as a basis.