Agricultural Research Council Of Nigeria (ARCN)- Invitation To Tender And Expression Of Interest For 2023 Capital Projects (54 Lots)

DEADLINE: 20TH MARCH, 2023
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF NIGERIA
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH HOUSE
PLOT 223D CADASTRAL ZONE B6 MABUSHI, ABUJA
INVITATION TO TENDER AND EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR 2023 CAPITAL PROJECTS

(1) INTRODUCTION
The Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) was established with the statutory mandate of Coordinating, Supervising and Regulating Agricultural Research, Training and Extension Activities of National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) and the Federal Colleges of Agriculture (FCAs) under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMA&RD).

In compliance with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 the ARCN wishes to bring to the attention of the public for her intention to carry out the following procurement activities in the Council as provided for in the 2023 Approved Capital Budget Appropriation.

In view of the above, bids are hereby invited from interested and reputable contractors with relevant experience and good track records in respect of the following projects.

(2)     SCOPE OF SERVICES/GOODS/WORKS

CATEGORY B:  GOODS

CATEGORY C: WORKS

(3) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
(i) Evidence of Certificate of Incorporation issued by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) including Form CAC 1.1 or CAC2 and CAC7. Business Name with Form BN1 is also acceptable for Services;

(ii) Current filing of CAC returns

(iii) Evidence of Company’s Income Tax Clearance Certificate (or Personal Income Tax Clearance Certificate of all the Partners in case of Business Name) for the last three (3) years valid till 31st December, 2023;

(iv) Evidence of Pension Clearance Certificate valid till 31st December, 2023 (this requirement is only applicable to bidders whose number of staff is 15 and above);

(v) Evidence of Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Compliance Certificate valid till 31st December, 2023 (this requirement is only applicable to bidders whose number of staff is 5 and above or the bidder’s annual turnover is N50m and above);

(vi) Evidence of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) Clearance Certificate valid till 31st December, 2023;

(vii) Evidence of Registration on the National Database of Federal Contractors, Consultants and Service Providers by submission of Interim Registration Report (IRR) expiring on 31/12/2023 or valid Certificate issued by BPP.;

(viii) Sworn Affidavit:

-disclosing whether or not any officer of the relevant committees of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria or the Bureau of Public Procurement is a former or present Director, shareholder or has any pecuniary interest in the bidder and to confirm that all information presented in its bid are true and correct in all particulars;

-that no Director has been convicted in any Country for any criminal offence relating to fraud or financial impropriety or criminal misrepresentation or falsification of facts relating to any matter;

-that the Company is not in receivership, the subject of any form of insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings or the subject of any form of winding up petition or proceedings;

-That the company does not have existing loan or financial liability with a bank, other financial institution or third party that is classified as doubtful, non-performance, bad or whose repayment portion has been outstanding for the last four (4) months;

(ix) Company’s Audited Accounts for the last three (3) years -2020, 2021 & 2022;

(x) Reference Letter from a reputable Commercial Bank in Nigeria, indicating willingness to provide credit facility for the execution of the project when needed;

(xi) Company’s Profile with the Curriculum Vitae of Key Staff to be deployed for the project, including copies of their Academic/Professional qualifications especially in the field of Agriculture;

(xii) Verifiable documentary evidence of at least three (3) similar jobs executed in the last five (5) years including Letters of Awards, Valuation Certificates, Job Completion Certificates and Photographs of the projects;

(xiii) Works: List of Plants/Equipment with proof of Ownership/Lease Agreement;

(xiv) Services: Evidence of current registration with relevant regulatory professional body(ies) such as

-For Training/ Empowerment programmes: Evidence of Firm’s Accreditation by the Centre of Management Development (CMD) including HND/BSc and MSc in the Field of Agriculture or related Field of the Training, while for Studies MSc and PhD in related field; COREN, QSRBN, ARCON, CORBON etc. Veterinary Medicine – For ICT trainings: Evidence of Firm’s current registration/accreditation with Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)

(xv) For Supply of Equipment: Letter of Authorisation as representative of the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs);

(xvi) Electricity Jobs: Evidence of current Licence issued by Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA);

(xvii) All documents for submission must be transmitted with a Covering/ Forwarding letter under the Company/Firm’s Letter Head Paper bearing amongst others, the Registration Number (RC) as issued by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Contact Address, Telephone Number (preferably GSM No.), and e-mail address. The Letterhead Paper must bear the Names and Nationalities of the Directors of the Company at the bottom of the pa re, duly signed by the authorised officer of the firm.

Note: Any Project with a bid price up to N500 million will require minimum average annual turnover of at least N2,000,000,000.00 in the last three (3) years.

(4) COLLECTION OF TENDER DOCUMENTS (GOODS AND WORKS)
Interested companies are to collect the Standard Bidding Document (SBD) from the office of the Head of Procurement, 2nd floor Room 313, on evidence of payment of a non-refundable tender fee of N10,000.00 per Lot, paid into the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria’s Remita account in any reputable commercial bank in Nigeria.

(5) SUBMISSION OF EXPRESSION OF INTEREST(EOI)
Interested Firms are to submit two (2) bound of Expression of Interest (EOI) documents separated by dividers and arranged as indicated above, and clearly marked with (the name of the project and lot number)

Furthermore, the reverse of each sealed envelope should bear the name and address of the bidder and drop in the designated tender box not later than 12:00 noon on Monday, 6 March, 2023.

(6) SUBMISSION OF TENDER DOCUMENTS (GOODS & WORKS)
Original and two (2) copies of the Technical and Financial bid are to be submitted in two (2) separate envelopes. Envelopes for the Technical and Financial Bids shall be duly marked “TECHNICAL BID” and “FINANCIAL BID” respectively. The two (2) envelopes shall then be enclosed in one single outer envelope and forwarded in sealed envelopes, marked on the top left-hand comer boldly written “PROJECT NAME AND LOT NUMBER”. The inner and other envelopes shall:

(i) Bear the name and address of the contractor, (inner envelopes):

(ii) Be addressed to the client at the address specified (inner and outer envelopes);

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF NIGERIA
PLOT 223D, CADASTRAL ZONE B6 MABUSHI – ABUJA.

(iii) Bear the name of the project (inner and outer envelopes); and

(iv) Bear a statement “Do not open with the technical bid’’ (inner financial envelope)

The documents are to be dropped in tender box in the office of the Head of Procurement, 2nd floor Room 313, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) not later than 12:00 noon on Monday, 20 March, 2023.

(7) OPENING OF EOI AND PREQUALIFICATION DOCUMENTS
The EOI and Technical bids will be opened immediately after the deadlines for submission at 12:00 noon on Monday, 6 March, 2023 and 12:00 noon on Monday, 20 March, 2023, respectively, at the Mallam Adamu Bello Auditorium 1st Floor Agricultural Research House Mabushi, Abuja. ARCN will not be held liable for misplaced or wrongly submitted bids. For further enquiries, please contact: office of the Head of Procurement, ARCN.

(8) GENERAL INFORMATION

(i) Bids must be in English language and signed by an official authorised by the bidder;

(ii) The Council will not be responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by any interested party in connection with any response to this invitation and/or preparation or submission in response to an enquiry.

(iii) This advertisement shall not be construed as a commitment on the part of the Council to award any or all the above listed projects.

(iv) Late submission shall be returned un-opened;

(v) Bidders should not bid for more than one (1) in each category and not more than two (2) Lots in total, violation is automatic disqualification;

(vi) Bids for different Lots should be submitted differently. Lump submission will be returned un-opened.

(vii) Sworn Affidavit must be original, sworn for the purpose of this Advertisement and must be as stated above;

(viii) Original letters or other reference collected from third party for the purpose of this advertisement should be addressed to the Executive Secretary;

(ix) Company representatives other than Directors signing or representing the company in this process including during tender opening must first be introduced in a letter addressed to the ARCN Tenders Board duly signed by registered Director of the Company;

(x) The Bids Opening will be covered by video recording with the physical presence of two (2) representatives of private sector professional bodies and Civil Society Organisation in the areas of Anti- Corruption/ Transparency, Invitation link will be sent to bidders who choose to join the bid opening online;

(xi) Bid documents can also be collected in soft copies and Bidders can submit through Post (Courier Services);

(xii) Goods and Works: Only pre-qualified bidders at technical evaluation will be invited at a later date for financial bids opening, while the financial bids of un-successful bidders will be returned un-opened;

(xiii) Services: Only shortlisted firms will be invited at a later date for collection of Request for Proposals (RFP);

(xiv) The ARCN is not bound to pre-qualify/shortlist any bidder and reserves the right to annul the Procurement process at any time without incurring any liabilities in accordance with Section 28 of the Public Procurement Act 2007.

SIGNED
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF NIGERIA
PLOT 223D, CADASTRAL ZONE B6 MABUSHI
ABUJA.