1.0     Introduction
This handbook is contains guidelines for efficient and effective implementation of projects and services in Kwara State. 

This handbook shall serve as guidelines to all executing Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government in the State for the procurement of goods and services. 

These guidelines shall be observed strictly in addition to all other existing Financial Regulations and circulars that may be issued by Government from time to time.

The Chief Executives of Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Parastatals would be held responsible for a breach of any part of these Guidelines.

2. 0    Approval Limitation

2.1     Contract of value not exceeding N5, 000, 000 shall be approved by the Hon. Commissioner/Chief Executive of Ministries/Dept. in accordance with appropriate due process guidelines.

2.2     Contract of value above N5, 000, 000, but not exceeding N100 million shall be approved by the Executive Governor in accordance with appropriate due process guidelines.

2.3     Contract value above N100 million shall be approved by the State Executive Council in accordance with appropriate due process guidelines.

3.0     Tender Process

In all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, a Ministerial Tenders Board shall be established that will approve all contracts within the limits specified in these guidelines. The Board shall comprise of the following:

4.0     Contract Validity

A Contract shall be deemed valid only if the Kwara State Ministry of Justice agreement has been duly executed.

5.0      Payments And Bonds

5.1     All Companies/Agencies awarded contracts by the State
Government must provide advance mobilization and performance bonds from reputable banks/insurance companies as the case may be

5.2     All advance payment not exceeding N5 million must be covered by performance bonds obtained from a reputable Insurance Company.

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  •  All advance payments exceeding N5 million must be covered with a Bank Bond.

5.4    Contractors/Companies with previous records of satisfactory
Performances in the State may be exempted from (5.1 – 5.3 above).

5.5    Payment of Advance Mobilization on any Contract must be backed by the following documents attached to the Payment Voucher (P.V.) :

• Letter of Award of Contract
• The Executive Governor’s approval
• Letter of release of fund
• Bank or Insurance Bonds as necessary

5.6     For subsequent payments, the following must be attached to P.V. in addition to a-d stated above:
(i)      Ministerial Monitoring Unit report
(ii)     Valuation Certificate prepared by a qualified Quantity Surveyor,
Engineer or Architect and
(iii)    A Valuation Certificate issued by BMPIU in respect of
Contracts above the sum of N5, 000, 000.

6.0     Project Monitoring

All Government Ministries/Agencies in Kwara State must have at least  two layers of Monitoring and Evaluation for all projects comprising the following:-

6.1     First Layer:-
(a)      DPFS                                               -  Chairman
(b)     One other Director                           -   Member
(c)      Representatives from Min. of Lands
& Housing and Ministry of Works               -  Member
(d)      MTB Secretary                               - Secretary

6.2      Second Layer
Permanent Secretary                             - Chairman
Director (PFS)                                       - Member
Director (PRS)                                       - Member
Rep. of ML&H                                        - Member
Rep. of BMPIU                                      - Member
MTB Secretary                                     - Secretary

6.3     The Project Monitoring Unit of each ministry must carry out periodic Inspection of projects being executed in the Ministry and report accordingly. Such reports shall be made through a standardized format to be developed by the State Planning Commission, copies of which must be submitted to the BMPIU.

7.0     Preparation of Project Specifications or Bills of Quantities

All contract specifications and /or Bills of Quantities must be vetted, by the Ministry of Lands and Housing (for buildings) and Ministry of Works and Transport (for roads, electrification and Water supply) if prepared by private consultants. However, when consultants are not engaged, such Specifications and Bill of Quantities shall be prepared by the Ministry of Lands and the Ministry of Works as stated above.

8.0     Valuation Certification

In all cases, the Ministry of Works and Transport shall issue Valuation Certificates for all electricity, roads and water supply projects, while Ministry of Lands and Housing shall prepare Valuation Certificates for all building construction/rehabilitation projects in the State.

9.0     Direct Labour Jobs

Ministries may execute projects through direct labour only if it is provable that such method represents the best available option in terms of expertise, cost effectiveness, value for money and accountability.  However, the supervision and evaluation of such jobs shall be effected with due collaboration with the Project Monitoring Unit and the BMPIU, which shall issue Project Completion Certification at the end of project.

10.0   Contract Award process

For all contracts below N2.5 million, a memorandum should be presented to the Ministerial Tenders Board by the executing agency. The Memorandum so presented must contain the following:
(i)       Title of the Memorandum,
(ii)      Purpose of the Memorandum,

• Other information required are
  • Summary details on project objectives and scope
  • Specification of all items of works
  • Bills of Quantities
  • Project Design
  • Schedule of basic rates; where relevant
• Implementation schedule and execution period;
• Cost of the project and financial provision available from previous allocations and current budget.
• Terms of payment to be used.

10.1   Advertisement   

For contracts above N500, 000 but below N2.5 million, notices for pre-qualification must be placed on the Notice Board of the procuring Ministry.

10.2   For contracts above N2.5million, advertisement must be placed in The
Herald and one other national newspaper for “Invitation for pre-qualification.”  The submission period for applications shall be two weeks from the date of first advertisement and all pre-qualification documents must be submitted at a time and location clearly specified in the advertisement.

The invitation for pre-qualifications should include the following:

i.         Name and address of the processing agency
ii.        A brief description of the objective and technical specification of  the Project.
iii.     The qualification and category of contractors expected to
tender;

•  The invitation for pre-qualification reference number – this will    eventually become the contract number;
• The date by which documents must be returned (A minimum of 1 week should be allowed for submission);
• The contact details of the procurement staff member

Responsible for the invitation/pre-qualification
Viii       Pre-qualification evaluation criteria.

• The evaluation criteria should be clearly defined in the pre-qualification document. The pre-qualification contractors list should be based solely on the criteria so defined.

10.3   Pre-Qualification of Contractors

10.3.1 A pre-qualification document shall be issued to all firms that responded
to the advertisement or notice.  All the responses to the advertisement shall be subjected to a pre-qualification process. 

10.3.2 The pre-qualification scrutiny should determine the technical
managerial and financial capacity as well as confirm the previous experiences in performing similar projects and ultimately their suitability as prospective bidders for the projects.  There should be standardization of specifications in order to ensure that a common denominator is used to determine pre-qualification of all respondents.

10.3.3 There should be a pre-qualification Evaluation Committee made up of
professionals.  The Secretary of the Tenders Board should serve as the Secretary of the Committee, while a representative of BMPIU would monitor compliance with Due Process guidelines.  Where necessary, pre-bid meetings should be organized with prospective contractors in order to clarify any points or issues in the bidding documents.  Bids shall not be altered after submission.

10.4   Invitation to Bid

After consideration of the report of the pre-qualification Evaluation Committee, all the qualified contractors should be issued with the Bid Document to enable them bid for the contract.  A period of 2 weeks from the date of invitation to bid shall be allowed for the submission of completed bids.

10.5   BID opening and Financial Evaluation

The following guidelines should be used for bid opening and financial evaluation:

• Opening of tender must be done in public at a designated

date and time.  The opening should immediately follow the  closing of the bidding period to minimize the risks of bid tampering.  The bidders or their representatives must be present at the bid opening session.

• The tender that offers the lowest most responsive bid shall be awarded the contract.

10.6   Due Process Certificate

  As soon as the contract process has been concluded and the award of contract approved, a DUE PROCESS CERTIFICATE shall be issued by Budget Monitoring and Price intelligence unit (BMPIU), one copy of which would be sent to His Excellency and another to the Ministerial Tenders Board of the processing Ministry to enable it issue a certificate of award of contract.
For contract exceeding N5million, a Due process Certificate shall be issued by the BMPIU before the memo is forwarded to the Executive Governor for approval.
10.7   Stages Of works/ Completion Certification
Once a project is initiated and mobilization paid, all further payments shall be conditional upon certification by the BMPIU and the Project Monitoring Unit. Each Certification simply confirms that satisfactory progress is being made toward completion of the work.  To this end, the Ministerial Implementation Committee is required to submit a technical and financial progress report to enable BMPIU/PM effectively evaluate the value for the money to be released.  The Ministerial Implementation Committee (MIC) must notify BMPIU about the certification schedules for each project in order to minimize over-all administrative demands of the certification process.

For issuance of the first certification after mobilization, BMPIU/PM would confirm that the value of work done is commensurate with the initial mobilization paid.  The basis for subsequent certification shall be:

     (i)    Funds released earlier have been fully utilized.

• Site visit has been carried out as agreed in the contract
• Contract work is being carried out as agreed in the contract
• Percentage of work completed is commensurate with funds spent.
• Anticipated project results are being achieved or if not, appropriate measures have been taken to ensure that results and goals identified under the contract are fully achieved.

 10.8    Finalisation of Internal Due process Cycle

The Ministerial Implementation Committee must submit the records of aggregate certificates issued in the preceding month to BMPIU/PM for the procedural oversight along with the necessary reports, facts and information to enable BMPIU/PM complete the due process cycle for each capital project.

 10.9     Certification Schedule For Projects Above N5million
10.9.1. For capital projects and payments above N5 million threshold, the
BMPIU/PM retains sole certification mandate. 

10.9.2. Before the submission of any memorandum to the State Executive
Council for the award of any contract above N5 million, it is mandatory to obtain a Due Process Certificate from BMPIU.  The guidelines for contract award certification under this threshold would be the same as for all contracts above N500, 000.00.

10.9.3. The procedure for certification shall be that each spending unit shall
notify BMPIU when it plans to commence the contract award process for contracts above N5million.  BMPIU experts would monitor the procurement process from the point of advertisement, pre-qualification, invitation to bid and selection of successful bidder.

10.9.4. Certification by BMPIU will be based on satisfactory adherence to all
aspects of the procurement guidelines by the Ministry.  A copy of the certification will be sent to the relevant Ministry and another copy to the Executive Governor.

10.9.5. After the payment of mobilization fee, all further payments are
conditional upon the certification by MIC in conjunction with the BMPIU/PM that satisfactory progress is being made toward completion of the work. Spending Ministries are required to prepare and submit to the BMPIU a technical and financial progress report with advice on possible modifications, cost implications and timing for completion to enable the BMPIU effectively evaluate value-for-money to be released.

10.9.6. Certification by BMPIU requires the spending Ministry to notify the
BMPIU about certification schedules for each project in order to minimize over-all administrative demands of the Certification process.  Each capital project shall not have more than 5 aggregate certificates.  The basis of certification under this threshold shall be that:

• Funds released earlier have been fully utilized.
• Site visit has been carried out to assess progress of work on contract.
• Contract work is being carried out as contained in the contract agreement.
• Percentage of work completed is commensurate with funds spent.
• Anticipated project results are being achieved or if not, appropriate measures have been taken to ensure that results and goals identified under the contract are fully achieved.

Variation:

Once a contract has been awarded, variation on the original contract sum may be allowed only if any of the following conditions arises:

(i). Addition to the original scope of work

(ii). Significant increase in the cost of materials estimated for the project provided the initial mobilization to the contractor is not more than 50%