Over 530 companies have bid for various projects of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) for the 2024 fiscal year.
Daily Trust reports that NRC has over N11 billion in capital allocation for 2024, with the projects involving roads innovation, locomotive repairs, coaches and rolling stocks; supply of lubricants, fuel, spare parts, track materials, among others.
At the opening of the bids at the NRC headquarters in Lagos, the Managing Director, Engr Fidet Okhiria, stated that it was an annual engagement which reflected the commitment of the corporation to transparency and accountability in the procurement process.
Represented by the Director, Administration and Human Resources, Dr Monsurat Omotayo, the MD stated that, “This is an annual event in line with the Procurement Act and the extant laws. NRC had advertised a month ago to invite interested organisations which are suitable and capable to bid for projects and express interest for the 2024 projects.
“This opening ceremony is for us to be able to make this process very transparent and fair. You can see the line up of all our evaluators. So, it is going to be a very detailed exercise.”
He noted that the opening of the bid process was to enable designated officials to check documents submitted by interested bidders with a view to ensure they met the eligibility criteria.
He further said, “We have a lot of projects, maybe over 500 projects. As NRC, we want to do over 1,000 projects a year, but obviously everything is dependent on our budget. So, we have managed to put our priority projects in this.”