Nigeria’s Minister for Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has stirred controversy as the Federal Government awarded a N40 billion mass metering contract to a greenhorn and foreign firm, De Haryor Global, ignoring indigenous local meter manufacturers.
Recall that on Sunday, Adelabu flagged off mass metering projects in Army formations across the country.
According to a statement by Media Aide to the minister, Bolaji Tunji, the project aims to end estimated billing in the sector.
The government said N12.7 billion has been released for the project.
However, stakeholders in the sector had faulted the government’s decision to ignore local meter manufacturers for a foreign firm with a relatively unknown record in implementing such a project.
Adetayo Adegbemle, Executive Director and Convener, PowerUp Nigeria, said the government erred in awarding a contract of that magnitude to an unknown firm.
He asked the contract be reviewed and reversed immediately for the benefit of Nigerians.
“Before this announcement, the company, De Haryor Global Services Limited, is not known to have handled any installation of this magnitude.
“De Haryor Global Services Limited is not a registered Meter Manufacturing/Assemblers Company, nor is it on the list of Manufacturers/Assemblers at the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Trades.
“The Company, De Haryor Global Services Limited, is not on the first schedule of NERC Approved MAPs.
“There’s no evidence of public tender/bid for this N40bn worth of contract, neither is there any evidence of meeting the Procurement Act procedures”, he said.
Similarly, the Coalition of Professional Women in Politics and Convener, Atinuke Owolabi, said the move would further worsen Nigeria’s foreign exchange crisis and hinder progress.
“We cannot afford to hinder the progress of our nation by neglecting our local businesses as represented by the call for inclusive growth and upscaling of the local content in the entire gamut of metering deployment to strategic military formations/barracks nationwide.
“There is a vast pool of engineering graduates waiting to be employed, and it is disheartening to see them overlooked due to lack of support from the Federal Ministry of Power.
“De Haryor Global Services is just a business name or one of the newly incorporated entities registered specifically as an SPV for mass-metering military formations/barracks nationwide. It has no factory/meter assembling plant in Nigeria.
“By implication, De Haryor Global Services will import N40 billion worth of meters from Asian countries and export jobs meant for Nigerians to other countries, further increasing the demand for forex.
“It’s high time we prioritised the Nation’s collective and overall primary interests over primordial interests,” he stated.
However, reacting to the development, Adelabu, through his aide, insisted that due process was followed in the contract award.
He said the contract was awarded under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration but was not funded.
“The previous administration awarded the contract, but it was not funded then. There were three bidders for it, and the best bid was from De Haryor Global.
“Also, De Haryor was not an SPV; it is a company that has existed since 2009. So, due process was followed for this project. Also, the project value is N12.7 billion.
“Yes. We have about 40 billion for mass metering, but not all are going for the Army formations metering”, he said.
Source: Daily Trust