Photo caption of WAPCo management at the 2026 Vendor Forum held on Thursday in Lagos, Nigeria. From left: General Manager, Operations, Abubakar Gwadabe; General Manager, Finance, Temitope Thorpe; Managing Director, Abbey Bodunrin; General Manager, Legal, Victoria Inemesit Akpan; and Manager, Health, Environment and Safety, Oluwayemi Adejimi Ojo.
By Emeka Ugwuanyi
The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo) says it doesn’t compromise safety, standards and integrity in its operations.
The Managing Director of WAPCo, Mr. Abbey Bodunrin, stated this in his opening remarks while addressing over 150 contractors who participated at its 2026 Vendor Forum held in Lagos, Nigeria.
Addressing the contractors Bodunrin restated the company’s commitment to safety, operational excellence, standard and integrity and told the contractors that safety is not negotiable in WAPCo, noting that no task is too urgent to compromise safety. Stop work when you feel it is unsafe, he added.
On integrity, he told the vendors that integrity is the foundation of WAPCo’s operation, therefore, the company has zero tolerance for corruption and bribery. He explained that there was no reason for anyone to cut corners. He also emphasized the importance of success. To him, success is not negotiable too. As partners in progress, success is shared responsibility, he told the contractors, adding that to maintain operational excellence, if something in the process slows you down, have patience and get it right.
Bodunrin said: “We do this Vendor Forum in every country where we operate. We consider our contractors as business partners, therefore, we have to work together. Safety is the highest objective for us as an organization. The focus is that everyone that comes to work for us should go back home uninjured. Therefore, this meeting is very important to us. It helps us to discuss with our business partners what is critical to us as an organization, so they understand what our expectations are, and to ask us questions so that we can clarify and be on the same page.
“Therefore, the focus of the vendor forum is to talk to our business partners, tell them what it takes to do business with us – the processes for tendering, among others. We help them understand our expectations and ensure we work together and ensure we are successful. When our vendors are successful, we are successful too.”
Photo caption: Abbey Bodunrin
In his presentation, entitled “WAPCo operational excellence and contractor safety,” the Health, Environment and Safety Manager, Mr. Oluwayemi Adejimi Ojo, corroborated the Managing Director and stressed the importance of safety and environmental compliance to the company.
He informed the contractors that the company has achieved 14 million work or man hours without injury in 12 years, which is a great feat. He assured that the company would keep engaging its contractors on safety and operational excellence as they are shared responsibilities.
Ojo took the contractors through WAPCo’s expectations from them which include; compliance with WAPCo HES policies, Leadership and supervision, Use of safety systems, competent and trained personnel, Hazard planning and assessment, Stop work authority, Incident reporting and investigation and Maintaining high safety standards.
Also on operational excellence (OE) journey, initiatives and improvements, Ojo gave insights into: Digital safe work permits, Contractor onboarding and induction, Leadership engagements, and Incident investigation enhancements.
On procurement, WAPCo noted that most importantly, contractors must satisfy established safety and technical requirements before their commercial proposals are evaluated.
It emphasised value for money as central to its procurement decisions, noting that technically competent contractors were expected to submit competitive bids to secure business opportunities.
“We only pay for value. Anybody who is technically competent to do the job must be the one who gives us the most competitive rate because, as an organisation, we have to ensure that we are getting value for money,”
The company clarified that providing financing assistance to contractors as done by some oil majors and big independents, was not part of its business model but reaffirmed its commitment to developing local content and expanding indigenous participation across its operations.
“However, WAPCo deliberately encourages local contractors in all four countries where it operates as part of its commitment to regional integration. However, contractors seeking opportunities across national borders must comply with the relevant regulatory requirements, including obtaining the necessary permits and operating licences in their destination countries.”
WAPCo stated that it has deployed a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to integrate contractor management and financial processes on a single platform. Although the implementation has presented some initial challenges, the company said it was engaging contractors to address their concerns and improve familiarity with the system. The integrated platform is expected to enhance efficiency in contract administration, documentation and contractor payments. WAPCo expressed readiness to embrace artificial intelligence (AI), recognising its growing influence on the oil and gas industry and its potential to improve productivity and business performance.
According to the company, AI offers opportunities to improve data analysis, accelerate decision-making and enhance existing business processes. “We are constantly looking at how we adopt AI into our business. It helps us analyse data better and improve efficiency. It enables us to do things we have been doing in the past much better and faster,” the company said.
West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo) is an international company that owns and operates the 678-kilometre West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP), transporting natural gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo, and Ghana.
