Ahmadu, in Abuja said due process was followed in the award of the
second Niger Bridge, Lagos-Shagamu Expressway, and Abuja-Kano Road
contracts to Julius Berger.
Ahmadu said Julius Berger duly bided for the projects, contrary to the
position of the House of Representatives Works Committee.
Julius Berger Managing Director, Engr. Dr. Lars Richter had also stated
that the nation’s leading and most dependable engineering construction
company was awarded the top priority projects based on due process.
The House of Representatives Committee on Works and Director General of
the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP), Mamman Ahmadu had disagreed on
the modalities for awarding the 400 Abuja- Kaduna-Kano road contract to
Julius Berger.
While the Committee insisted that the construction giant got the
contract without bidding for it as required by law, the BPP boss said
due process was followed in the award of the contract as Julius Berger
duly bided for the contract.
It would be recalled that the Managing Director of Julius Berger Nigeria
Plc, Engr. Dr. Lars Richter appeared before the House of Representatives
Committee on Works last week and asserted that the company was properly
awarded the contracts for the three top priority projects of the Federal
Government, following due process of procurement for the works.
Mamman Ahmadu also submitted that several issues were evaluated in the
award of the three major contracts of the government to the company. He
said part of the consideration was the quality of work expected to be
delivered by the finally chosen contractor.
The DG said: “The Lagos-Ibadan project was conceived as a public-private
partnership, but no performance from the concessioner. It was awarded
during Jonathan’s time and because of poor performance, it was
re-awarded.
“The Second Niger Bridge, likewise, started as BPP project, but failed
to perform and it was converted to a contract financed by the government
and started by Julius Berger. Abuja Kaduna Kano was initiated to open
competitive bidding and was later given out too. It was much later
because budgetary provisions were not coming regularly and the
government took it up to finance,” he said.
A member of the Committee Rep. Mark Gbillah had exercised his privilege
to disagree with the BPP DG, saying the Abuja-Kaduna- Zaria-Kano road,
began as open competitive bidding and sought to know the procurement
process by which the project was awarded to Julius Berger. The lawmaker
demanded to know the justification for which Julius Berger was awarded
the contract, since, according to him, the company was not part of the
initial process. Another Legislator, Hon. Bello Kaoje, questioned the
rationale behind the BPP awarding roads more than 400 kilometers to a
single contractor. Responding, the BPP boss said communities where the
strategic projects are sited also preferred the company to handle the
projects.
On the essential parameter of quality of final project delivery, Ahmadu
said Julius Berger came strongly preferred for the projects. According
to the BPP helmsman, “Quality is very important, so specification and
the quality requirement were considered…. In fact, at the time this
project came, Julius Berger said if they were allowed to do the road
that they will ensure road maintenance for 30 years and minimum
maintenance for a few years thereafter.
Ahmadu, at a lighter moment during the public hearing also drew the
attention of the lawmakers to the outstanding quality of Julius Berger’s
works within the National Assembly complex, saying: “For instance, the
National Assembly should also take note, you have three blocks here and
the ones built by Julius Berger, see how they are still clean, and the
ones built by others are going bad and need maintenance.”