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Calabar Port contract followed due process – Niger Global Director

By BusinessNews Staff on October 18, 2014

The award of contract for the Calabar Channel by Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to a joint venture, Calabar Channel Management Limited (CCM) and Niger Global Engineering Services Limited, followed due process and not in contravention of any law, a director of Niger Global Engineering Services, Popoola Ayeni has said
Reacting to allegations by some firms, which lost out in the bidding process for the contract that due process was not followed in the exercise, Ayeni said, the bid process was handled by Mobotek, an international acclaimed consultants based in Holland, in line with international best practices.
He said, about 49 companies participated in the bidding for the contract with the active participation of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) adding that after a rigorous exercise, the best company, which in the instance case, the Calabar Channel Management Limited (CCM) in partnership with Niger Global Engineering Services Limited emerged.
“It is the same consultants that handled the Lagos Channel Management Company and the Bonny Channel Management Company that produced the same process for the Calabar exercise. Our Company passed the financial and technical bids and was duly handed a ‘No Objection’ Certificate by the BPP. It is therefore completely erroneous for anyone to insinuate that Calabar Channel Management (CCM) Limited was not subjected to a pre-qualification test to ascertain its competence as required by the law before being awarded the contract,” Ayeni clarified.
He maintained that contrary to insinuation, his company, Niger Global Engineering Services Limited has been involved in many dredging activities in the country, which it had successfully executed. According to him, the dredging of the Calabar Channel is in partnership with world’s best, Westminster Dredging and Royal Bokalis of Netherlands.
The contracts for the management for four channels in Nigeria namely Lagos, Bonny, Calabar and Warri had been advertised. The bid was conducted internationally by Mobotek, a Holland consulting firm where about 49 international companies applied.
At the end of the pre-qualification exercise involving the technical and financial bid verification with series of bid clarification meetings between NPA and Federal Ministry of Transport, some companies emerged.
These included: DEPASSA leading a consortium of companies for Lagos Channel, Dredging International Services, leading a consortium of companies for Bonny Channel and Niger Global Engineering, leading a consortium of companies for Calabar Channel.
Though the management of Lagos and Bonny Channels were executed, the ones in Calabar and Warri were not executed.
With the Calabar company, it would not only ensure the dredging of the channel but also involves the removal of wrecks and derelicts. Presently, only Bonny and Lagos channels are regularly dredged with the involvement of Bonny Channel Management Limited (BCC) and Lagos Channel Management Limited (LCM) respectively.

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