Familiarize yourself with the process of SUBEB contract awards, payments, Ogun govt urges contractors
The Ogun State government has urged contractors seeking to execute projects for the Ogun State Universal Basic Education (SUBEB) to get acquainted with the guidelines for payment processing.
The government, in a statement issued by the Head, Public Relations of Ogun SUBEB, Mr. Segun Adelaja, said that in order to ensure full execution of projects by contractors, the Dapo Abiodun-led administration in Ogun State had directed that all ongoing projects should be evaluated in line with the procurement guidelines for contractor evaluation and project monitoring.
According to the statement, these procurement processes are geared towards ensuring that competent and experienced contractors are selected and mobilization payments are secured and judiciously utilized.
According to Adelaja, the procurement rules stipulate pre-conditions in the form of Advance Payment Guarantee (APG) before mobilization fees are paid to contractors. An APG is usually issued by third party financial institutions (usually banks).
Adelaja noted that once the APG is issued for (usually) 15% of the project cost, the contractor then submits to the agency in question for the processing of necessary approvals in preparation for onward payments of mobilization fees, which are usually paid in batches.
He added that once a mobilization fee has been paid to a contractor, no further payment would be made to him or her without an interim performance certificate issued in accordance with the contract agreement.
This, he said, is to protect the state from contractors planning to collect mobilization fees and then take to their heels.
Adelaja said: “For contractors that had already commenced work without APG and mobilization fees, the requirement is to value the work done to date.
“SUBEB projects in the State are awarded through a very rigorous procurement process in line with the procurement law.”
Adelaja further said the SUBEB funds have very strict management guidelines which preclude investment and/or placement in an interest-bearing account, adding that contracts for Ogun SUBEB projects are awarded to contractors after successful evaluation of proposals and satisfaction of minimum criteria for qualification by the Evaluation Committee, comprising SUBEB team members led by the Executive Secretary.
“The project evaluation exercise, concluded earlier in the year, typically leads to the issuance of Contract Award letters to the successful contractors who satisfied all the stipulated conditions.
“Award letters are distributed in alphabetical order and contractors are required to go to the Local Government Areas where the project were located and meet with the project engineers for visits to the project sites.
“Upon satisfactory inspection of the sites, usually for a new construction/renovation, the contractor then formally accepts or rejects the award letter via written letter to SUBEB. After this, a contract agreement is then executed between SUBEB and the contractor commences the project. In case of rejection, a new procurement process is activated and the cycle restarts.
“Assessment of compliance with these procurement procedures is a necessary step which must be vetted by the Ministry of Finance to ensure that due process is followed before payments are made to the contractors who have satisfied all the stipulated requirements,” he said.
He added that the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration would never compromise the ideal of having contracts executed within reasonable time and meeting the required standards.
