The Federal Government through the Ministry of Aviation has held bidders’ conferences for the aerotropolis and cargo terminal development, in line with the criteria in the Public-Private Partnership procurement phase.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, noted that the conference was in fulfilment of the provisions of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission Act and the National Policy on Public-Private Partnership.
A statement signed by Sani Datti for the Special Assistant to the Minister on Public Affairs, James Odaudu, said that the conference was held in Abuja on Monday, 16 January 2023.
Sirika in his remarks said, “Government is committed to the projects and that is why it is taking time because of due diligence as ICRC is superintending the process.
According to him, as an entity regulating PPP, it follows their template for the public to get the value for the money.
He said: “The present administration is not willing to sell public properties but is willing to make them better, by giving them to the private sector to make them better so that there is value for the money.”
Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Muhammed Shehu, who doubles as Chairman, Project Delivery Team said the Ministry is in the procurement phase for the selection of preferred bidders for the projects.
He added that the conference is designed to interface with the companies/consortia that were successful at the request for qualification stage and have been requalified to proceed with the request for proposal stage of the procurement phase.
“The programme is to enable the companies to make clarifications with the consultant on the areas of the request for proposal package and draft contract agreement. The result of the exercise will guide them in the pupation of both technical and financial proposals,” he explained.
The Director of Transport Infrastructure, ICRC, Emmanuel Onwadi, said at this stage of the transaction ICRC is willing and committed to making sure that we achieve the set standard in line with the aspiration of Nigerians.
He urged participants to feel free and ask questions for clarification, adding that stakeholder engagement will continue throughout the project’s lifespan.
Punch