By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission, Rev. Dr Yakubu Pam has said that integrity is the watchword of the Commission because it is not only preached but also practiced.
Pam said this today at the bid opening process for the forthcoming 2022 pilgrimage exercise to Israel, Jordan and Rome which took place at the NCPC conference hall on 20th September, 2022.
In his opening remarks, the Reverend thanked God for witnessing the first process of bid opening since his assumption in office on 7th July 2020 following his appointment as the third substantive Executive Secretary of NCPC.
The NCPC lead affirmed that one of his agenda of office is to fight corruption and promised that the Commission will leave no stone unturned to achieve that through the bid opening process for contractors which he said would be open and transparent.
“Let everyone know that NCPC is proud to represent Christians in Nigeria, integrity is not only preached here, but also practiced”, he said.
He reiterated that the mandate of the Commission is the responsibility of airlifting pilgrims to holy sites around the world, stating that his administration has also discovered Jordan as an additional destination as he promised to discover more holy sites for pilgrimage in the nearest future.
Furthermore Rev. Pam commended the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, for his tireless effort in supervising the affairs of not only the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission but 13 other MDA’s in the country.
The Chairman, House Committee on Pilgrims Affairs, Hon. Abubakar Nalaraba who was present at the bid opening process noted that integrity, transparency is one of the important aspects of pilgrimage.
The success and failure of a pilgrimage starts with airlifting, if we get it right, we will have a successful pilgrimage exercise, Nalaraba said.
The Chairman applauded the Commission for being on the right direction in making the bidding transparent and successful for bidders.
He also commended the Executive Secretary for his tireless efforts in making the pilgrimage exercise a success through his innovative ideas and also for successfully conducted pilgrimage exercise with minimal or zero record of abscondment.
The Director General, Bureau of Public Procurement, who was represented by Mr. Ojougboh Nelson in his address, described the bid opening process as part of the evaluation process of documents for possible contract.
He said, the exercise was transparent, charging bidders to always listen to instructions on advertisements and follow it properly.
According to him, documents that are not enveloped or named appropriately would not be attended to going forward.
The NCPC Head of Procurement, Mr. Sunday Umujose conducted the bid opening exercise which had two submissions for air carriers and five submissions for ground handlers. He disclosed the evaluation process would commence soon while assuring a free and fair selection process.
