We almost reject local firms for NASS’ renovation – Speaker

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, has said that the leadership of the National Assembly was almost misled in 2022 by some foreign firms into rejecting any local firm from getting contract for renovation work at the federal parliament,

Abass disclosed this while inspecting the renovated and reconfigured hallowed chambers of the House of Representatives and that of the Senate together with the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu and former Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.

He said when the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, informed leadership of the 9th National Assembly on plan to award contract for renovation of the chambers, some foreign firms mounted pressures on the FCDA and NASS to get it.

“The interested foreign firms then, even went beyond mounting pressures on relevant authorities for the contract by also resorting to blackmailing the local firms from being considered at all.

“Different tactics were employed by foreign firms to discredit nigerian indigenous contractors as being inferior.

“But as usual, the foreign contractors came with bogus proposals which gave room for listening to the voice in support of local contractor and eventual award of the contract to Visible Construction Limited, a subsidiary of Laralek Ultimate Group, a fully registered Nigerian indigenous company owned by a young Nigerian.

“This is a master piece,a fantastic job done by a local contractor and we must commend him for the job he has done because a lot of us were doubting whether a local contractor can be able to do this particular job, we have our reservation when the contract was awarded.

“But today, we are all witnesses that the reconfigured chambers exceeded our expectations and very befitting for the 10th National Assembly,” he stressed.