THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF PROCUREMENT PRACTICE ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF UNIVERSITY OF BENIN AND IGBINADION UNIVERSITY IN EDO STATE

The study evaluates the economic impact of procurement practice on academic performance of University of Benin and Igbinedion University in Edo state. Specifically, the survey assessed the effect of procurement planning, supply evaluation, contract management, procurement staff competency, and inventory management on academic performance. The sample size of 120 respondents- 60 respondents from each university, were purposively chosen from the population comprising all staff members directly engaged in procurement activities at the University of Benin and Igbinedion University. The data employed the primary method of data collection with the aid of structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was carried out on the data and the analyse was conducted using linear regression technique. The findings from the analysis demonstrates that procurement planning has a positive and statistically significant effect on university performance, supplier evaluation shows a negative and significant relationship with university performance, contract management displays a negative and significant coefficient while staff competency has a significant positive effect on university performance, and lastly inventory management though positive, was statistically insignificant. The findings indicate that while procurement practices are critical to institutional effectiveness, their impact is inconsistent and often undermined by systemic weaknesses. It is recommended that Universities should adopt participatory planning frameworks that involve end-users, align procurement needs with budget realities, and minimize bureaucratic delays, and Regular training, professional certification, and regulatory awareness programs should be instituted to improve the competence of procurement staff.