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By Godswill Michael
The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has proposed the introduction of a tiered sanctioning regime that would impose penalties based on the severity of professional misconduct, as part of broader reforms aimed at strengthening engineering regulation, improving accountability and enhancing public safety across the country.
COREN President, Prof. Sadiq Abubakar, announced the proposal on Tuesday during a media briefing ahead of the 34th COREN Engineering Assembly scheduled to hold from July 13 to 15, 2026, at the Velodrome of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
According to Abubakar, one of the Council’s foremost priorities is to establish a sanctioning framework that balances fairness with accountability while restoring public confidence in the engineering profession.
”One of the Council’s foremost priorities is the introduction of a Tiered Sanctioning Regime that promotes accountability while ensuring fairness and transparency. The proposed framework is designed to apply sanctions proportionate to the nature and gravity of professional misconduct, ranging from corrective measures and mandatory professional development to licence suspension, withdrawal and, where necessary, prosecution in accordance with the law. This approach is intended not merely to punish, but to deter misconduct, encourage compliance and strengthen public confidence in the engineering profession,” he said.
He added that the Council would pursue legislative amendments to strengthen the Engineers (Registration, etc.) Act to provide COREN with greater regulatory powers in line with international best practices.
”The Council will also continue to pursue legislative reforms to strengthen the Engineers (Registration, etc.) Act (as Amended), providing COREN with enhanced powers to regulate engineering practice more effectively in line with international best practices, introduction of the reviewed ECOPACCE.
”These reforms will support stronger enforcement, improve regulatory efficiency and provide a firmer legal foundation for initiatives such as the Engineering Residency Programme, engineering inspections, professional accountability and public safety,” he stated.
Abubakar said the theme of this year’s Assembly, “Advancing Public Safety in Nigeria through Strategic Engineering Regulation, Enforcement, and a Tiered Sanctioning Regime,” reflects COREN’s commitment to protecting lives, safeguarding infrastructure and strengthening engineering governance.
He noted that engineering failures are often rooted in poor compliance, stressing that “every engineering failure is first a failure of compliance before it becomes a failure of infrastructure.”
The COREN president stated that the Council is adopting what it described as Strategic Engineering Regulation, which goes beyond registration and licensing to include proactive planning, risk-based oversight, continuous professional competence, stakeholder collaboration, monitoring and evidence-based enforcement.
He said COREN had strengthened its Engineering Regulation, Monitoring and Enforcement system through nationwide inspections, professional audits, investigations and closer collaboration with government agencies and sector regulators.
Reviewing achievements since the 33rd Engineering Assembly, Abubakar listed reforms in engineering education, regulatory oversight, digital services, enforcement, professional development, engineering standards, international partnerships and engineering intelligence.
Among the milestones, he said COREN secured National Universities Commission endorsement and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board approval to enforce admission quotas for engineering programmes, reintroduced engineering oath-taking and graduate indexing, revived the mandatory one-year Engineering Residency Programme before the National Youth Service Corps, inaugurated regional steering committees, state technical committees and engineering monitoring committees, and expanded digital registration and verification platforms.
He also disclosed that the Council trained and certified 239 Engineering Failure Forensics investigators, 868 engineering programme implementors and 839 programme evaluators while establishing sectoral committees to develop engineering codes and safety standards.
The COREN president, however, identified persistent quackery, poor compliance with engineering standards, inadequate funding for enforcement, weak compliance by project owners, increasing infrastructure complexity, delays in prosecuting misconduct cases and poor maintenance culture as major challenges confronting engineering regulation.
He said COREN would continue leveraging digital technologies, including artificial intelligence and data analytics, to improve engineering oversight and compliance while strengthening partnerships with government, educational institutions, professional bodies and industry stakeholders.
Speaking during the briefing, COREN Vice President, Engr. Olaolu Ogunduyile, urged journalists to partner with the Council in exposing unqualified engineering practitioners.
”We will also want you to support us. You may not be an engineer, but you can be a whistleblower when you see quarks, you see people that are doing quarkery and they are not engineers, you can also report them to us so that actually we can take the appropriate discipline,” he said.
According to him, such collaboration would help reduce building collapses, promote local content development and strengthen Nigeria’s engineering sector.
Ogunduyile also said local manufacturing capacity was improving, adding that “by the grace of God, by September this year we’ll be commissioning a transformer factory in Nigeria.”
Also addressing journalists, COREN Registrar, Prof. Uche Okorie, said the Council had intensified public advocacy because engineering regulation is fundamentally about public safety.
”All we have done, is that we are no more keeping quiet. We have known the importance of advocacy, this is all about public awareness and all we are talking about is public safety,” he said.
Okorie acknowledged that inadequate funding remained a major obstacle to extending effective engineering regulation across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas but stressed that COREN had embraced collaboration with universities and other regulators to improve enforcement.
He warned that developers who compromise approved engineering designs would be held accountable, saying, “We’ll pursue you even if you run to your village.”
The registrar urged the media to continue raising awareness about engineering regulation and public safety ahead of the Council’s 34th Engineering Assembly.
The annual COREN Engineering Assembly is the Council’s flagship policy and professional gathering, bringing together government officials, regulators, industry leaders, academia, professional bodies and development partners to deliberate on engineering education, regulation, professional practice and national development.
This year’s edition will focus on strengthening public safety through strategic engineering regulation, enforcement and the proposed tiered sanctioning regime.