7,000 firms vie for 360 rural electrification contracts

About 7,000 firms submitted bids for 360 lots
of rural electrification projects, Chief Executive
Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency, REA,
Mr. Kenneth Achugbu, has said.
This means that on the average, only one 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 extended twice 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 for the
selection of bids that meet the required terms
and conditions.
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 in
corruption scandal involving the then
leadership. It was subsequently suspended but
reactivated in 2011 by the federal government.