By Peter Duru, Makurdi

The Benue State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, has cautioned that it would not tolerate the execution of shoddy jobs and delay in the delivery of projects by contractors.

The Executive Chairman of the Board, Dr. Grace Adagba sounded the warning Thursday in Makurdi at the official opening of contract bids for the utilisation of 1st-4th quarter 2022 and 1st-4th quarter 2023 Universal Basic Education Commission UBEC/SUBEB Matching Grants.

She urged successful contractors to stick to stipulated specifications and delivery time frame in order not to incur the wrath of the Board and supervisory bodies as well as anti graft agencies.

She said “the Board will not condone laxity and indolent attitude from any contractor. All successful bidders are expected to speedily execute their projects within the stipulated time frame as well as endeavour to follow designs and specifications in carrying out their projects.”

According to her, “As part of the Board’s drive to entrench accountability, effectiveness and transparency in the procurement and contract award procedures, we have strictly followed due process according to the provisions of the Public Procurement Act in the process of awarding contracts to the qualified bidders.

“Let me assure bidders of fairness as bids will be opened in the full glare of all and only competent companies will be selected for awards of the contracts.”

The Chairman pointed out that the ceremony was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Federal Government through UBEC and Benue State Govemment by jointly releasing funds to enable Benue SUBEB carry out projects such as Construction/Rehabilitation of Classroom Blocks, Hostels, Digital and Non-Digital Libraries, Drilling of Boreholes and Construction, Supply and Distribution of Furniture of Pupils, Teachers in ECCDE, Primary and UBE Junior Secondary Schools.

She said, “this developmental step taken by Governor Hyacinth Alia deserves special commendation as it shows his consistency in giving due attention to the development of basic education in Benue state.”

Declaring open the bid opening process, the Commissioner of Education and Knowledge Management, Dr. Frederick Ikyaan who commended Governor Alia for his unparalleled development strides since assumption of office lauded him for giving special attention to the education of the Benue child.

Represented by his Permanent Secretary, Mr. Agbo Ochekpe, the Commissioner said the bid opening exercise “is a demonstration of our resolve to implement projects and programmes with transparency, accountability and adherence to the highest standards of quality and ethics.”

“It is also a sign that this administration is radically transforming policies into reality. I therefore, commend Benue SUBEB for organizing this event and putting in place institutional mechanism that will facilitate prudent utilization of resources.”

The Zonal Director of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Anslem Ozioko who commended Benue SUBEB for ensuring a “free, fair, clean and transparency bid exercise” cautioned successful contractors again any act that would amount to fleecing the Board as the commission would not hesitate to take necessary action.

The UBEC Zonal Supervisor for North Central, Mr. Yissa Yakubu cautioned that the commission would not hesitate to pull down any substandard job, while the UBEC State Coordinator, Mr. Emmanuel Baba who commended Benue SUBEB for ensuring transparency in the conducting of the bidding exercise also lauder the management team of the board for ensuring a credible process and giving all contractors equal opportunity to bid for contracts and sued for its sustenance.

The Chaiman of the Benue State House of Assembly Committee on Education, Mr. Cephas Dyako who commended the transformation being witnessed in Benue SUBEB urged contractors to complement the effort by executing quality jobs for the good of Benue children.

On of the contractors, Mr. Emmanuel Chia said he was pleased to be part of the bid process “because everything done so far is transparent, free and fair and I hope to be successful in my bid because there are no ambiguities in the process.”