The Federal Government has barred Ministries, Departments and Agencies from approving upward contract reviews without first obtaining certification from the Bureau of Public Procurement.
Under new procurement guidelines released by the BPP, all requests for contract variations, fluctuation claims and scope adjustments must now undergo central review and receive a Certificate of No Objection before approval by any authority.
The new framework, approved by the Federal Executive Council, replaces the 2013 policy that only required presidential approval for variations above 15 per cent of a contract value or N1bn.
BPP Director-General Adebowale Adedokun said the reforms are aimed at curbing cost inflation, corruption and abuse of contract variation processes across government agencies.
“Variations must not become a backdoor for cost inflation and scope creep,” Adedokun stated.
The guidelines warned that any variation processed without BPP approval could attract sanctions under the Public Procurement Act, including suspension of officials and debarment of contractors.
According to the Bureau, only variations arising from unforeseen site conditions, statutory changes, force majeure, macroeconomic shocks or value engineering improvements will be considered.
Requests resulting from poor planning, defective designs or attempts to introduce entirely new project components under existing contracts will be rejected.
The BPP also introduced stricter rules for fluctuation claims, warning that contractors who deliberately delay projects to increase costs risk losing their claims and facing possible blacklisting.
Approval thresholds were also revised, with variation increases of N10bn and above requiring Federal Executive Council approval, while smaller increments will pass through ministerial, parastatal or accounting officer levels depending on value.
To improve transparency, all MDAs must now publish details of approved contract variations, including contractor names, original sums, revised costs and reasons for adjustments, on their websites and the BPP portal within 30 days.
The new rules take immediate effect and apply to all ongoing federal projects, regardless of when the original contracts were awarded.
