Ekiti SUBEB warns contractors against substandard jobs

The Chairman of Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board, Femi Akinwumi, has said that the commission will blacklist any contractor who violates the contract agreement in addition to making him refund the money paid to him.

Akinwumi said that Ekiti SUBEB would not tolerate substandard jobs or delays in the execution of projects by contractors.

He spoke in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on Friday during the bid opening ceremony signalling the commencement of the awards process for 2023 Universal Basic Education Commission/ SUBEB Intervention Projects in the state.

Among the job descriptions for the 2023 UBEC/SUBEB intervention projects are the construction of blocks of classrooms, water system toilets with deep wells, overhead tanks, and generators, procurement of furniture items for teachers and pupils, and perimeter fencing of school premises.

The SUBEB chairman said that the board would ensure strict compliance with the UBEC/SUBEB guidelines and the state procurement law in awarding the contracts.

He said, “No contractor with a history of abandoned projects, invalid tax clearance, low financial capability, or doubtful records will be considered for award of contracts by Ekiti SUBEB.

“Let me assure the contractors participating in the tendering process of a level playing ground. Let me also warn against the violation of the contract agreement. Any contractor who fails to work according to specifications will be blacklisted and made to refund the money collected”.

He reiterated the state government’s resolve to pay the contractors in full after the successful completion of their contracts as he called on contractors to deliver the jobs on time.

Akinwumi described the occasion as “another remarkable effort of the governor, Biodun Oyebanji, in turning around infrastructures in the state’s public primary schools in order to further actualize the vision of providing conducive teaching and learning environments in the schools”.

The SUBEB chairman lauded Oyebanji for his achievements in the area of provision of an enabling environment for the development of the basic education sector.

He said, “The present administration has continued to prioritise teachers’ welfare and development of schools’ infrastructures as evident in payment of running grants to schools, procurement and distribution of instructional materials and training and retraining of teachers.”

The SUBEB boss also hailed the governor for “payment of car and housing loans to teachers and elevation of degree-holding teachers from Grade Level 15 to Grade Level 16 among other record-breaking achievements.”

Akinwumi said that apart from the payment of counterpart funds of over N1.3b for the execution of the SUBEB projects, the governor had assured of the readiness to approve payment of counterpart funds for the 2024 (UBEC/ SUBEB) intervention projects.