, Blames Companies For Incomplete Processes
The Ebonyi State Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has reacted to the report of SaharaReporters that revealed that 24 contracts totalling N4.1billion for classrooms construction were awarded without competitive processes.
The reaction to the report was made by the Executive Secretary of the Bureau, Uzoma Betty.
“I wish to address the article published by Sahara Reporters on January 13th, 2025, concerning the Ebonyi State Government awarding N4.1 billion projects to 24 sole bidders without a competitive process.” the statement sent to SaharaReporters noted.
According to her, majority of the projects were awarded before the deployment of the Ebonyi State e-procurement system.
“It is important to clarify that the majority of these projects were initiated before the deployment of the Ebonyi State e-Procurement system.”
“Additionally, some project information was published on the OCDS Portal as required by SFTAS. SFTAS requested for some information about the tender award not all the information. Hence, only the most important information of the person that was awarded the contract is requested not all the bidders.” she noted.
She argued that the contracts were published with calls for bidders, which shows that the state was interested in transparency.
“For transparency, these projects were advertised in newspapers and posted on the notice boards of all MDAs in the state. These advertisements were publicly accessible for 30 days.”
“By advertising in newspapers, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) adhered to the Procurement Law, ensuring that sufficient measures were taken to encourage competition in the tender process.”
According to the statement, companies not being listed on the portal to show competitive processes in the contracts awards were largely due to their refusal to submit tender fees or show evidence of payments in their submissions.
“It should be noted that some companies failed to submit tender fees or show evidence of payment in their submissions, a requirement under the Ebonyi State Procurement Law. During the evaluation, many did not meet the eligibility criteria stated in the advertisements, and thus, were disqualified.”
“Consequently, the project was awarded to the most responsive bidder. Ebonyi State employs an Open Competitive method to award contracts. If, after newspaper advertisements, only one company paid the tender fee and submitted a tender, the BPP cannot compel other companies to participate.”
“The evaluation and award process was conducted with the approval of the State Council on Public Procurement.”
“Ebonyi State has been recognized as the best in e-procurement for transparency, accountability, and effectiveness by reputable organizations such as the World Bank, SFTAS, and State to State. The publication misrepresents our procurement processes.” the statement read.
The executive secretary reteirated that the state was committed to upholding standards in the procurement system of the state.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that a review of the Ebonyi state open contracting portal has shown that the state violated contractual procedures in the awards of different contracts for construction for 12 classroom storey buildings across the state.
According to the Ebonyi open contracting portal, only one organisation bidded for each contract and the same organization that bidded for the contract won.
This is despite the provision of the state open contracting law that makes room for a competitive process for contract award. Per details on the state’s portal, it is unclear why it chose one company to bid for the school project and not multiple companies.
The contracts summed up to N4.1 billion in total for twenty-four different awards.
SaharaReporters also earlier reported how the state abused procurement standards in the award of contracts to former Governor Dave Umahi’s relations.