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Nigeria has barred government ministries, departments and agencies from processing upward revisions of contract sums without first obtaining a certificate from the Bureau of Public Procurement, according to new guidelines issued on Sunday.
The guidelines centralise the review of all contract variations and scope modifications under the bureau’s authority, a statement signed by its head of press and public relations, Zira Nagga, said.
The new framework replaces a 2013 regulation that required presidential approval only for variations above 15 percent of the initial contract sum or one billion naira.
Under the updated rules, every request for a variation order, fluctuation claim or scope modification, regardless of size, must first be submitted to the BPP for review and certification before proceeding to the relevant approving authority.
A BPP Certificate of No Objection, valid for six months, is now a mandatory precondition for any further action, Nagga said.
Variations processed without it will attract sanctions under the Public Procurement Act 2007, including suspension of responsible officers and debarment of contractors.
The guidelines were issued pursuant to Sections 5(a) and (o) of the Public Procurement Act 2007 and give effect to a Federal Executive Council-approved policy conveyed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in December 2025.
Permissible grounds for variations
According to the guidelines, unanticipated site conditions, significant price increases brought on by macroeconomic shocks or force majeure, material errors in design or bills of quantities, statutory changes after contract execution, and value engineering improvements that lower costs without changing scope are all acceptable reasons for contract variations.
According to Nagga, modifications resulting from poor planning, preventable design errors, or the inclusion of new elements not included in the initial contract scope will be rejected.
The guidelines state that these additions must be purchased as completely independent contracts.
The guidelines added new provisions on project delays for fluctuation claims, which account for shifts in labour, material, and exchange rate costs.
Contractors found to have intentionally slowed execution to generate larger fluctuation claims will be denied those claims and may be debarred if the claims are found to be bogus or overstated, the statement said.
The revised approval thresholds are tied to the augmentation sum, or the amount of the increase, rather than the total revised contract cost.
Works of variations of 10 billion naira and above require Federal Executive Council approval. Those between five billion and 10 billion naira go to the Ministerial Tenders Board. Those between 75 million and five billion naira go to the Parastatal Tenders Board.
Variations below 75 million naira for works, or 50 million naira for goods and services, can be approved at the accounting officer level, according to the guidelines.
Similar thresholds apply to procurement of goods and services.
The guidelines mandate the use of approved final designs for all procurements from the outset. The use of preliminary or flawed designs that subsequently generate unnecessary variations will attract regulatory sanctions.
Within 30 days of the tender board’s approval, all MDAs must post information about each approved variation on their websites and the BPP portal, including the contractor’s name, the original contract sum, the augmentation amount, the revised contract sum, and the reasons for the increase.
The Federal Executive Council will receive council notes on reviewed and approved variations across government on a regular basis, according to the BPP.
The guidelines take immediate effect and apply to all ongoing projects regardless of when the original contract was awarded.
