a) Documents that a contractor should possess and submit in bidding for a contract:

i. Certificate of incorporation/evidence of registration at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC);

ii. Tax clearance certificate covering at least three years preceding the current year;

iii. VAT registration certificate and evidence of payment;

iv. Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Certification;

v. Audited accounts for at least 3years from the current year;

vi. Company profile, organisational structure including names of directors and management team, address of the company and contact details;

vii. Evidence of execution of similar jobs including skill acquisition and experience of personnel;

viii. Bank guarantee or performance bond from an insurance company;

ix. Professional body registration if any, for example, ICAN, COREN, SEC, etc;

x. Details of bankers or financiers and evidence of an existing relationship; and

xi. Any other documents that may be required for the bidding.

b) Fundamental principles of public procurement All public procurements must be conducted:

i. Subject to prior review of thresholds set by the Bureau;

ii. Based only on procurement plans supported by prior budgetary provisions/appropriations and a “Certificate of `No Objection‟ to contract award” from the BPP;

iii. By open competitive bidding;

iv. In a transparent, timely and equitable manner which will ensure accountability and conformity with the Act;

v. With the aim of achieving value-for-money and fitness for purpose;

vi. In a manner which promotes competition, economy and efficiency; and

vii. In accordance with the procedures lay down in this Act and as may be specified by the Bureau from time to time.

c) Special and restricted methods of procurement

Special

The invitation documents under open competitive bidding:

Stage one

i. Shall call upon suppliers or contractors to submit, in the first stage of two-stage tendering proceedings, initial tenders which contain their proposals without a tender price;

ii. May solicit proposals that relate to technical, quality or other characteristics of the goods, works or services as well as contractual terms and conditions of supply and may stipulate the professional competence and technical qualifications of the suppliers or contractors; and

iii. May, in the first stage, engage in negotiations with any supplier or contractor whose tender has not been rejected under an open competitive bidding procedure with respect to any aspect of its tender.

Stage two

In the second stage of the two tender proceedings the procuring entity:

i. Shall invite suppliers or contractors whose tenders have not been rejected to submit final tenders with prices on a single set of specifications

ii. May, in formulating the specifications, delete or modify any aspect of the technical or quality characteristics of the goods, works or services to be procured together with any criterion originally set out in these documents, evaluate and compare tenders and ascertain the successful tender;

iii. May add new characteristics or criteria that conform with this Act;

iv. Shall communicate to suppliers or contractors in the invitation to submit firm tenders, any deletion, modification or addition; and

v. May permit a supplier or contractor who does not wish to submit a final tender to withdraw from the tendering proceedings.

Restricted tendering

Subject to the approval by the Bureau, a procuring entity may for reasons of economy and efficiency engage in procurement by means of restricted tendering on the following conditions:

i. Goods, works or services are available only from a limited number of suppliers or contractors;

ii. Time and cost required to examine and evaluate a large number of tenders is disproportionate to the value of the goods, works or services to be procured;

iii. Procedure is used as an exception rather than norm; and

iv. Procuring entity shall cause a notice of the selected tendering proceedings to be published in the procurement journal.

ii. Emergency procurement

An entity may, carry out an emergency procurement on the following steps:

i. In an emergency situation, a procuring entity may engage in direct contracting of goods, works and services;

ii. All procurements made under emergencies shall be handled with expedition but along principles of accountability, due consideration being given to the gravity of each emergency; and

iii. Immediately after the cessation of the situation warranting any emergency procurement, the procuring entity shall file a detailed report thereof which the Bureau will verify same and if appropriate issue a Certificate of ‘No Objection’.