VICTORIA ISLAND, Nigeria – The Federal Government has explained its decision to award the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project to Hitech Construction Company Ltd., dismissing claims of irregularities in the procurement process.
The Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, provided the clarification during an inspection tour of the project in Lagos on Saturday, March 15, 2025.
Umahi addressed concerns that the contract did not undergo competitive bidding, stating that the procurement process adhered to legal requirements.
“Some people say that it didn’t go through a competitive bidding. I want to explain this: we have three types of procurement allowed by law,” he said.
The minister listed the three types of procurement as restrictive procurement, selective/competitive bidding, and open bidding.
He explained that the government initially used restrictive bidding for Section 1 of the project due to the specialised nature of the work.
“When we started this project, we asked for companies that have up to five wirtgne concrete pavers. You will agree with me that until we started this, the concrete paver was not common in Nigeria as it is today. We had to look for a company that had done this kind of project before, and that is Hitech,” Umahi said.
He noted that Hitech’s successful reconstruction of the Oworonshoki-Apapa Road demonstrated its capability, leading to its selection for the coastal highway project.
“We saw that they got it right, so we called them on Section 1. Then, we used restrictive bidding, which we sent to BPP (Bureau for Public Procurement) and we sent to the Federal Executive Council, and they looked at it and corrected where they should and passed it accordingly,” he added.
Umahi stated that as other companies began acquiring the necessary equipment, the government opened Section 2 of the project to selective bidding.
Hitech emerged as the winning bidder for this section as well.
“When other companies started bringing in some equipment, because they saw that the Ministry of Works is insisting, especially where we have a high water table, that we must use concrete, they started to bring in concrete equipment,” he said.
The minister emphasised that the procurement process for Sections 3A and 3B followed the same transparent and legal procedures. “We have not gone outside the law; we have not gone outside the Procurement Act,” he said.
Umahi also refuted claims that President Bola Tinubu recommended Hitech for the project, stating that the process was free from corruption.
“I want to say that there is no corruption in it. It is very transparent,” he added.
