Abuja, July 20 (Mediaage NG) – The Nigerian Senate on Thursday called for the immediate suspension of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) tender for World Bank funded NMMP phase 2. This development is to enable a comprehensive review of the procurement criteria in prioritising local content production that is certain to trigger capacity building, employment opportunities and economic growth of the country.
The Senate also asked the TCN and other stakeholders to negotiate and engage the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) for alternative loan if the conditions stipulated by the World Bank does not align with the goal of local economic growth at a critical period of massive unemployment in the country and devaluation of the Naira.
This urge was in response to a bill sponsored by Senator Victor Umeh, representing Anambra Central.
The aim is to protect local manufacturers as noted in the bill which also revealed that one of the duties of Industry Procurement Regulators in a developed economy is to argument importation of goods and services.
Senator Umeh backed his argument by listing local metre producers whom he said can match or better their international counterparts. Some of them include the Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON).
“AMMON are capable of producing world standard smart Meyers, hence the Transmission Company of Nigeria and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) under phase 1 of the mass metering programme of the Federal Government, issued the association, after a competitive bidding process a “letter of no objection” to award 4 million Meyers in 2022″, he said in the bill.
The Bill also noted that the World Bank funding of the NMMP phase 2, amounting to one hundred and fifty-five million US dollars $155, 000.00) will end up promoting foreign companies to the detriment of “competent and pre qualified local metre manufacturers”.
“This will ultimately result in the loss of jobs and revenue. A deliberate policy to prioritise local manufacturing will catalyse job creation and economic growth”, Senator Umeh cautioned.