The Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) at the weekend urged contractors who bided for the procurement and supply of plastic tables and chairs for primary schools in the state to disregard directives to purchase the items from only a particular source.
SUBEB Information Officer, Mrs Sar Erdoo, said successful contractors are to wait for further directives from the board after due consultation with UBEC in Abuja.
Governor Samuel Ortom had earlier directed SUBEB in the state to immediately reverse the restriction placed on the contractors, warning that no contractor whose bid is successful should be compelled by SUBEB to procure plastic tables and chairs only produced by Oracle Business Limited.
Ortom had ordered the board to allow contractors to procure the items from any company of their choice, provided that the quality of the products meets the set standard.
The governor posited that though he is no longer on the board of Oracle Business Limited, he however founded the company, stressing that he since banned it from bidding for Benue State government contracts in line with his principles of transparency and equity.