ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Federal Government, through the Bureau of Public Procurement, has prohibited Ministries, Departments, and Agencies from approving upward adjustments of contract sums without first securing a Bureau certificate.
The Bureau announced the directive on Sunday alongside a set of new guidelines that centralise the review of all contract variations and scope changes under its oversight.
According to a statement signed by its Head of Press and Public Relations, Zira Nagga, the reform is aimed at reducing persistent cost inflation and curbing corruption in public procurement.
The guidelines, issued under Sections 5(a) and (o) of the Public Procurement Act 2007, implement a Federal Executive Council-approved policy communicated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in December 2025.
The statement, titled ‘Contract Variations: BPP Releases Guidelines,’ explained that the new rules replace the 2013 framework, which required Presidential approval only for variations exceeding 15 per cent of a contract sum or N1bn.
Under the revised system, all requests for variation orders, fluctuation claims, or scope changes must be submitted to the Bureau for review and certification before any further approval process.
Nagga stated that a BPP Certificate of No Objection, valid for six months, is now compulsory before any action can proceed, warning that non-compliance will attract sanctions, including suspension of officials and debarment of contractors under the Public Procurement Act 2007.
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The Bureau’s Director-General, Adebowale Adedokun, was also quoted as saying, “Variations must not become a backdoor for cost inflation and scope creep.”
“These guidelines ensure that every adjustment to a public contract is necessary, justified, and delivers value to Nigerians. The BPP will apply these rules rigorously and fairly across all MDAs,” he added.
The guidelines clearly distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable grounds for contract variation.
Approved reasons include unforeseen site conditions, design or bill of quantities errors, post-contract statutory changes, major price fluctuations due to economic shocks or force majeure, and value engineering that reduces cost without altering scope.
However, variations arising from poor planning, design flaws, or addition of new project components not included in the original scope will be rejected outright.
The Bureau stated that such additions must be treated as separate contracts to prevent misuse of variation processes.
On fluctuation claims, the guidelines introduced stricter measures to prevent contractors from deliberately delaying projects to inflate costs.
Contractors found culpable of such practices will be denied claims and may face debarment if found to have submitted false or exaggerated claims.
The revised approval structure now bases thresholds on the augmentation amount rather than the total revised contract value. Works variations of N10bn and above will require Federal Executive Council approval.
Those between N5bn and N10bn will be handled by the Ministerial Tenders Board, while variations between N75m and N5bn will go to the Parastatal Tenders Board.
Adjustments below N75m for works, or N50m for goods and services, may be approved at the Accounting Officer level.
Similar thresholds apply to goods and services procurement. To reduce avoidable variations, the guidelines also mandate the use of final approved designs from project inception, warning that reliance on incomplete designs will attract sanctions.
On transparency, MDAs are required to publish details of all approved variations including contractor names, original sums, augmentation values, revised totals, and reasons for changes on their websites and the BPP portal within 30 days of approval.
The Bureau added that it will regularly submit reports on approved variations to the Federal Executive Council.
The guidelines take immediate effect and apply to all ongoing projects, regardless of when contracts were originally awarded.