The Kogi Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project has opened 61 bids for the construction of 28 combined junior and senior secondary schools across the 21 Local Government Areas of the state.
State Project Coordinator of Kogi AGILE, Ahmed Oricha, at a public bid opening held in Lokoja on Wednesday, stated the intervention was aimed at providing safe and conducive learning environments and expanding educational opportunities for adolescent girls.
Oricha said the project, under Component 1.1, followed fresh approval from the World Bank for the construction of the 28 schools, adding that more than 100 students were expected to benefit.
He stressed that transparency, accountability and strict adherence to quality standards would guide the implementation, noting that all bidders were given the opportunity to inspect the project sites.
Also speaking, Commissioner for Education, Wemi Jones, described the exercise as an opportunity to redefine education intervention in Kogi, noting that government had faced challenges in funding the sector.
Jones said the partnership represented a significant development for the education sector and expressed optimism that it would contribute to a more equitable and accessible education system.
He urged the bidders to trust the process and accept the outcome in good faith, assuring that the exercise would be conducted transparently.
Before the opening, representatives of the bidders and observers witnessed the inspection of the bid box, which the Procurement and Evaluation Teams confirmed was securely locked and had not been tampered with.
The bid documents were subsequently removed and counted, with 61 bids confirmed to have been received before the 12 noon deadline. The names of bidders, bid prices and other required information were publicly read and recorded in the official Bid Price Read-Out Sheet.
A representative of the Civil Society Organisation, Audu Emmanuel, commended the transparency of the exercise, while Adeolu Oshadare, Procurement Officer with L-PRESS, also praised the process.
Clarifying the next stage, Oricha said the opening exercise did not determine successful or unsuccessful bidders, as all submitted bids would undergo detailed evaluation in line with procurement requirements.
He said approximately four weeks would be allocated for the evaluation, after which the outcome would be communicated through the official channels specified in the bidding documents.
