By Uzor Odigbo
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has publicly opened bids for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction phase of the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC).
A press release by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, stated that the event, which held virtually, had in attendance external observers such as the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and the Civil Liberties Organizations (CLO).
This signals the imminent take off of the second phase of the rehabilitation of the Refinery whose first phase was completed earlier in the year.
Speaking at the event, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, restated the Corporation’s commitment to revamping the four Refineries including the Warri Refinery and the Kaduna Refineries.
Represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Ventures and Business Development, Engr. Adeyemi Adetunji, the NNPC chief said the revamp of the state owned refineries would ensure reduction of petroleum products importation, create jobs and improve the national economy for the betterment of the people.
He said NNPC would continue to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders in order to ensure the growth of the nation’s refining capacity.
Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services at NNPC, Engr. Mohammed Ahmed, applauded the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and the Civil Liberty Organisations (CLO) for their sustained collaboration with the NNPC in ensuring the entrenchment of the Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE) policy of the current management of the Corporation.
On his part, the Managing Director of PHRC, Engr. Ahmed Dikko, said the company was ready to commence the EPC phase of the rehabilitation of the plants, stressing that a team has already been set up to coordinate and actualise the EPC phase of the job.
In her welcome address, the Group General Manager, Supply Chain Management, Mrs. Aisha Katagum, commended the bidders for scaling through the rigorous pre-qualification evaluation exercise to the technical phase, noting that due to the COVID-19 pandemic the bids were submitted electronically and would be viewed virtually.
Throwing more light on the PHRC EPC bid opening exercise, the General Manager, Supply Chain Management, Sophia Mbakwe, said the bids were submitted through the NipeX portal for the pre-qualification for technical evaluation, assuring that the process provides a level playing field for all bidders.
External observers namely BPP, NEITI, and CLO who spoke at the event, commended the NNPC for the automation of the bid process, stressing that the process would ensure that the best technical bidder is selected at the end of the day
