Tinubu did not recommend Hitech for Lagos-Calabar Highway Project, says Minister
By emmanuel MALAGU
Minister of Works, Dave Umahi
The Federal Government has explained why it awarded the Lagos-Calabar
Coastal Highway Project to Hitech Construction Company Limited
The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, made the explanation during an Inspection
Tour of the Highway Project in Lagos.
“Some People say that it didn’t go through a Competitive Bidding.
“I want to explain this: we have three types of Procurement allowed by Law,”
he said.
Umahi listed the three types as Restrictive Procurement,
Selective/Competitive Bidding, and Open Bidding.
“When we started this Project, we asked for Companies that have up to five
Wirtgen Concrete Paver.
“You will agree with me that until we started this, the Concrete Paver was
not common in Nigeria as it is today.
“We had to look for a Company that had done this kind of Project before, and
that is Hitech.”
He noted that Hitech reconstructed the Oworonshoki Apapa Road.
“We saw that they got it right; so, we called them on Section 1.
“Then, we used Restrictive bidding, which we sent to BPP (Bureau for Public
Procurement) and we sent to the Federal Executive Council and they looked at it
and corrected where they should and passed it accordingly.
“When other Companies started bringing in some Equipment, because they saw that
Ministry of Works is insisting, especially where we have High Water Table, that
we must use Concrete, they started to bring in Concrete Equipment,” he said.
Umahi said that the Federal Government consequently opened Section 2 of the
Project to Selective Bidding and selected some Companies and they bid.
He said that Hitech won the Bidding.
The Minister said that in Section 3A and 3B, the same thing happened.
“We have not gone outside the Law, we have not gone outside the Procurement
Act.”
He emphasised that President Bola Tinubu did not recommend any Company for
the Highway Project.
“I want to say that there is no Corruption in it. It is very transparent,”
he added.
Credit NAN: Texts excluding Headlines
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