Seventy-five (75) companies have successfully submitted bids for the concession of 12 federal roads, under the first phase of the Highway Development Management Initiative (HDMI).
This was disclosed by the Head of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Unit of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mrs. Abimbola Asein, during the opening of the Request for Qualification (RFQ) bid in Abuja today.
Naijabusiness.com.ng understands that the Highway Development Management Initiative (HDMI) was created by the Federal Government to develop and manage federal roads network through sustainable Private-Sector investment. The initiative is also targeted towards raising alternative sources of finance for road management in the country, whilst unlocking the enormous potentials of the project with its attendant job creation impact. Commenting on the rationale behind the establishment of HDMI, Asein said: ‘’ So a lot is being done on the federal highways as we speak, so we need more to be done and in that we are inviting the private sector to participate in delivering good roads to Nigerians,” she said.
The 12 roads under the first phase of the HDMI are: Benin-Asaba; Abuja-Lokoja; Kaduna-Kano; Onitsha-Owerri-Aba; Sagamu-Benin; Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga; Lokoja-Benin; Enugu-Port Harcourt; Ilorin-Jebba; Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta; Lagos-Badagry; and Kano-Shuari-Potiskum-Damaturu.
Explaining the processes involved before the selection of successful bids, Mrs Asein said: ‘’ It is a two stage procurement process; we have the RFQ; that is this phase now that we are opening the bid for. And then we have the Request for Procurement (RFP); the people that have been pre-qualified will now be open to bid for the 12 road corridors that have been identified.
“Seventy-five companies have been successful for pre-qualified so we are going to go through the documents that were submitted by those people. Then if they are successful, they go on to the next stage which is RFP stage,” Asein clarified
Asein also noted that the opening of the portal for the submission of bids would ensure that credible concessionaires were selected and given the opportunity to manage critical national assets.
On the other hand, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of works, Mr Babangida Husseini, remarked that the Federal Government is committed to a transparent, fair and competitive bidding process throughout the HDMI project life circle. He added that: “The nation is looking forward to a robust procurement process that will usher in the much needed concessionaires that will develop and manage these routes, while recouping their investment through till and non-till revenue sources.’’ Recall that the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, had earlier in December 2020, received the Certificate of Compliance for the Outline Business Case for the HDMI. This was subsequently followed by the official launching of the E-portal: (https://hdmi.worksandhousing.gov.ng) on 29 March, 2021.
