Seplat Energy Clinches Nigeria’s First CIPS Procurement Excellence Award

L-R: Chief Operating Officer, Seplat Energy Plc, Samson Ezugworie; Global Chief Executive Officer, Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), Ben Farrell; General Manager, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Seplat Energy, Valentine Agwu, at the presentation of the Procurement Excellence Standard Certificate to Seplat Energy Plc by the CIPS in Lagos … recently.

Seplat Energy Plc has become the first Nigerian company to receive the prestigious Procurement Excellence Standard Certificate from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), setting a new benchmark for procurement and supply chain governance in the country’s energy sector.

The certificate was formally presented on June 5 at Seplat’s corporate headquarters in Ikoyi, Lagos, by the Global CEO of CIPS, Ben Farrell, who led a delegation from the UK-based institute. Seplat’s Chief Operating Officer, Samson Ezugworie, and General Manager of Supply Chain Management (SCM), Valentine Agwu, received the award on behalf of the company.

“This certificate is not handed out lightly,” Farrell said during the presentation. “It’s a serious recognition of ambition and commitment to world-class standards. Seplat has demonstrated a continuous drive for improvement and excellence in procurement practice.”

The certification follows a rigorous two-year evaluation process that began in February 2023. CIPS assessors reviewed Seplat Energy’s operations against 98 criteria across five core dimensions: Leadership and Organisation, Strategy and Policy, People, Processes and Systems, and Performance Management. The final assessment, conducted by an independent verifier from the CIPS Procurement Excellence Programme, took place in January 2025.

Seplat Energy received official confirmation of the certification on January 22, 2025, becoming the first Nigerian company—and only the second oil and gas company in Africa—to achieve this standard.

Speaking at the event, Ezugworie described the award as a strategic milestone for Seplat’s operations. “Supply chain is the bedrock of our business. It is the channel of our spend, and we believed it was critical to put it on a solid and transparent foundation. That’s why we committed to this process,” he said.

He also praised the efforts of the SCM team led by Agwu and challenged the team to aim for the Platinum Category, which represents the highest level of CIPS certification with a focus on sustainability and continuous improvement.

For Agwu, the certification marks the culmination of a transformation journey that began in 2021, when Seplat launched an internal reform agenda focused on improving processes, people, and systems.

“Adopting the CIPS Procurement Excellence Programme allowed us to build a structured path to transformation,” Agwu said. “It took us two years of detailed assessments, but today, we can proudly say we met all the requirements and passed with distinction.”

CIPS, a globally recognized body for supply chain professionals, awards the Procurement Excellence Standard Certificate only to organizations that demonstrate robust governance, ethical sourcing, risk management, and performance monitoring practices.

With this recognition, Seplat Energy has not only raised the bar for procurement standards within Nigeria’s energy industry but also reinforced its reputation as a leader in corporate governance and operational excellence.