The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Sunday said it had opened 577 bids submitted by firms seeking to secure the insurance renewal contract for the corporation’s oil and non-oil assets.

According to the NNPC’s Group General Manager, Risk Management and Insurance, Mr. Modupe Bameke, the public opening of bids is a requirement of the Bureau of Public Procurement aimed at promoting transparency.

He was quoted in a statement issued by the spokesman for the NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, as saying, “The essence of this public bid opening is to ensure that the corporation complies strictly with the provisions of the Bureau of Public Procurement Act. All the bids will be opened in the presence of everybody to ensure that all entries are properly captured in line with the transparency principle of the NNPC.”

The NNPC’s Group General Manager, Supply Chain Management, Mr. Shehu Liman, said the bids opening was aimed at providing a level playing field for all bidding companies.

“The idea is to select broking and insurance companies that are credible and capable with a track record of performance. What this means is that we are going to eliminate all those transactions that are not necessary,” Liman stated.

On the number of bidders, the NNPC said 245 brokers tendered for oil assets, 251 brokers for non-oil assets while 37 insurance companies tendered for oil assets and 44 for non-oil assets.

Representatives of the companies, which tendered bids for the NNPC insurance renewal contract in whose presence the bids were opened, commended the national oil firm, according to the statement.

It stated that the bid opening event had in attendance officials of the BPP, Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, and National Insurance Commission, as well as members of the civil society who served as independent assessors.