BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU

ABUJA – There are indications that the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, might consider other options open to it if the $105million bid security expected from the reserved bidder for Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, NITEL, Omen International Consortium, is not credited to the bureau’s account unfailingly today.

Mrs Bolanle Onagoruwa, BPE Director-General, said yesterday that Omen International, after several extensions, wrote to the bureau on June 10, 2011, indicating that the $105million bid security would be credited to BPE’s account today.

At the financial bid opening held by BPE on February 16, 2010, First Generation Consortium had emerged the preferred bidder with an offer of $2.5bn, while Omen International Consortium emerged the reserved bidder with an offer of $956m and the reserved bidder is expected to pay 30 percent bid security.

She said: “After the preferred bidder, New Generation Consortium failed to pay, in spite of several extensions, we went to the reserved bidder and BPE requested them to pay the bid security of $105million and they also asked for extensions, reason which they hinged on the country’s election.”

Onagoruwa explained that Omen International Consortium said “their financiers were worried about the stability of Nigerian government and wished to wait after the elections before payment  could be made, and requested we give them up to June 10, 2011, to pay.”

The BPE DG further explained that on June 10, 2011, “we received a letter from Omen International Consortium that the $105million had been transferred to BPE‘s account that we gave them and that the money would be credited to the bureau account by Wednesday (today).