TCN’s emergency procurement followed due process — Consultant

Oyofo Sule, a consultant with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), has clarified that the company followed the procedures in accordance with the Nigerian Procurement Act in its recent emergency procurement.

Addressing journalists on Saturday under the platform of the Civil Society Organisations Budget Implementation, Assessment, Evaluation, and Monitoring Committee, Sule said emergency procurement was initiated by TCN to quickly effect some repairs in some of its electrical infrastructure.

“TCN has over 1,800 km of 330kV and 132kV high-voltage transmission lines and transmission towers traversing the entire nation, and several through very difficult terrains including swamps, forests, areas prone to flooding that cause rapid erosion of tower bases, and natural disasters.

“Also, some of these towers and lines pass through land mines in insurgency-prone areas, which is inevitable as the lines must convey electricity to citizens.

These difficult terrains negatively impact transmission towers and also make it easy to vandalise the towers and lines, underscoring the need for emergency procurement.

“Also, the scourge of insurgency and vandalism threaten transmission towers bearing the high-tension lines, and when these towers are attacked, they must be repaired almost immediately to forestall the total collapse of the tower, which often would drag and pull down a number of towers along the same line route, if not quickly remedied, causing full system or partial collapse of the nation’s grid.

“In this case, the method of emergency procurement to quickly effect repairs would be adopted”, he said.

The TCN consultant further explained that Section 43 of the Public Procurement Act 2003 states, “A procuring entity may, for this Act, carry out emergency procurement where the country is either seriously threatened by or actually confronted with a disaster, catastrophe, war, insurrection, or act of God.

He said the condition or quality of goods, equipment, buildings, or publicly owned capital goods may seriously deteriorate unless action is urgently and necessarily taken to maintain their actual value or usefulness.

Furthermore, he explained that under this condition, TCN can undertake emergency procurement of the projects.

“The Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) is the government agency saddled with the responsibility of enforcing the monitoring and prior review of thresholds set by the council for the application of the provisions of the Procurement Act by procuring entities.

They stipulate to all procuring entities the procedures and documentation prerequisites for the issuance of “No Objection” for contracts to be awarded.

“Being professionals with expertise in the procurement process, they review all procurement submissions as they relate to the contracts, including those listed in the publication.

“TCN notes that the BPP thoroughly reviewed the contract documents before granting TCN “No Objection” and requested further clarification and documentation to support the method of procurement before they were approved”, he said.

Sule said that contrary to the allegation of inflated contract prices, the Bureau observed that TCN made some savings through contract negotiations held with various contractors before arriving at a reasonably fair and acceptable price limit, considering the emergency nature of the projects in question and the current market process.

“In line with the provisions of Section 42 of the Public Procurement Act 2007, for direct procurement, TCN obtained official approval from the BPP after due process.

“TCN remains committed to transparency, accountability, and delivering essential services to citizens, emphasising the necessity of emergency procedures to ensure the integrity of the national power grid”, he added.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

Nigeria has highest cement price in the world — Producers

FOR about 10 years now, Nigeria has remained the country with the highest cement price in the world, national chairman, Cement Producers Association of…

Kogi: INEC to hold fresh elections in 59 polling units Nov 18

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed its intention to conduct fresh elections in…

Twins who graduated First Class in UNILORIN say school separated them during exams

Taiwo Hassanah Subair and Kehinde Aishah Subair are identical twin sisters and First Class graduates of…

FULL LIST: ‘Shanty Town’, ‘Herdsmen’, ‘Underbelly’ top BON Awards nomination 

Best of Nollywood Awards has officially released nominations lists and categories for the 2023 Nollywood award ceremony. Stylised as…

Helen Paul and other bastardy stories

Everyone has a history; how you act and tell your story defines you. Ace comedian and celebrity, Helen Paul, trended wildly last…

Nigeria will host befitting African Canoe Sprint Championship — Porbeni

President Nigeria Rowing, Canoeing and Sailing Federation (NRCSF), Rear Admiral Festus Porbeni (rtd) has…