08 August 2013, Abuja – About 7,000 firms have submitted bids for 360 lots of rural electrification projects, Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency, REA, Engr. Kenneth Achugbu has said.
This means on the average, only one bidder out of every 20 competing bidders would win a lot.
Speaking at the public opening of the bids in Abuja, the REA boss said the deadline for bids submission was twice extended to give opportunity to the wider public to participate in the process.
According to him, “our agency has had a sordid and unpalatable history of being closed down because of an improperly conducted procurement process. It is only a fool who doesn’t learn from mistakes of his predecessors. We are therefore committed to playing the procurement game strictly in accordance with rules.”
The next step in the process will be the evaluation of the bids by a committee towards the selection of the bids that meet the required terms and conditions.
Engr Achugbu however warned the bidding companies not to mount “pressures on us for favours related to this procurement exercise because we have none to offer. You don’t need a letter from powers and principalities to get a contract award from REA if you have done the right things in your submissions.”
The REA is saddled with the responsibility of providing electricity to rural communities not on the national grid.
In 2009, the agency was enmeshed corruption scandal involving the then leadership. It was subsequently suspended but reactivated in 2011 by the federal government.
– Yunus Abdulhamid, Daily Trust
