By Mariam Sanni
In a decisive move to overhaul Nigeria’s infrastructure delivery processes through Public-Private-Partnerships, PPPs, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, has issued a set of guidelines that will govern the development and implementation of all PPP projects in Nigeria.
The new framework, released under the statutory powers conferred on the commission by the ICRC Act, 2005, and in compliance with a presidential directive, was formally unveiled during a high-level stakeholders’ engagement with representatives from all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, directly involved in PPPs.
The guidelines provide direction and requirements to set up the Project Approval Board for the new approval thresholds of under N20 billion for ninistries and under N10 billion for agencies and parastatals as approved by the president; it provides steps for preparing the Outline Business Case, OBC, Full Business Case, FBC, and financial model; guides for the procurement routes, PPP agreement, among others
The Director-General of ICRC, Dr Jobson Ewalefoh presented the guidelines, took stakeholders through each section, responding to questions and clarifying points to ensure clear understanding.
“The new guidelines are in response to President Bola Tinubu’s vision to liberalise the economy and in line with his charge to the ICRC to seek innovative ways to attract private sector finance to build infrastructure through PPPs.
By the end of the engagement, participants expressed strong support for the reforms and a readiness to immediately begin implementing the new guidelines.
While presenting the guidelines, Dr Ewalefoh stressed: “These rules establish a definitive framework for the conception, development and execution of PPP projects in Nigeria. They decentralise project approvals to empower MDAs for faster delivery, while safeguarding ICRC’s role as a regulator of PPPs in Nigeria.
“Every PPP project — regardless of sector, scale or origin — must strictly comply with these provisions. Every project shall be subjected to our due diligence and compliance requirements,” he said.
He re-emphasised the role of ICRC as a regulator of PPPs and not an operator or grantor of projects, and informed the participants that the commission will continually facilitate and coordinate negotiations between MDAs and private proponents to ensure that the terms and conditions of agreements are fair to parties and implementable.
He underscored that the presidency’s decision to delegate greater approval authority to MDAs, with ICRC regulating the process, also comes with heightened accountability and zero tolerance for non-compliance.
ICRC reaffirmed its commitment to collaborate with MDAs, private investors, financiers and development partners to reposition Nigeria as the continent’s leading destination for bankable and transformative PPP projects.
