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Tag: Hadiza Usman

  • FG to institute Wreck Insurance Policy soon – MD NPA

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says Federal Government will soon institute a Wreck Insurance Policy (WIP) for vessels arriving in Nigerian ports for operational efficiency and navigational safety.

    The NPA Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Usman, made this known in Lagos on Friday while addressing major stakeholders of the nation’s maritime sector at a one-day Quarterly Summit of the Ports Consultative Council (PCC).

    Usman said that the policy would provide avenue for the port management to evacuate abandoned vessels in the entire nation’s territorial water.

    She also said that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had granted approval for a Private-Public Partnership (PPP) agreement of N72 billion for the ports access roads in Apapa and Tin Can Island.

    On the gridlock on port access roads, she said that only trucks that were housed in the proposed trailer parks would be allowed entry into the port locations soon.

    “The management is to deploy an electronic call-up system that allows access to the ports only when they are needed.

    “The Apapa Wharf road reconstruction project has reached 85 per cent completion.

    Read Also: Apapa Wharf road ready in September – NPA

    “The road will be fully completed in the next four to six weeks period,” Usman said in a statement.

    She said that the efficient utilisation of inland waterways was key to decongestion of ports access road.

    Usman said that a company, ‘Connect-Rail’, which was engaged by the authority to provide barge evacuation, was currently moving cargoes and several tons of containers between Ikorodu and the terminals through the water.

    “The management of NPA was desirous on how it could use the waterways farther even away from Ikorodu to other locations to ease the congestion of Apapa and Tin Can Island axis,” she said.

    Chief Kunle Folarin, the Chairman of the Council, said that the meeting was strategic and an avenue to examine issues relating to the operations of the port industry, especially as it concerned port operators.

    Folarin said that at the end of the meeting, the council always came up with a blue print that would enhance efficient port operations and management.

    He described Usman in three words of Decisive, Resourceful and Engaging.

    Folarin lauded the NPA boss for addressing issues that affected port operations, adding that the issues were germane for efficient port administration.

  • Apapa Wharf road ready in September – NPA

    The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Usman, has said that the 2km Apapa Wharf Road being reconstructed would be completed and opened to motorists by the end of next month.

    Usman made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday.

    The managing director said that the reconstruction which would cost N4.34 billion would enable the Federal Government to achieve its goals as regards the Ease of Doing Business.

    She said that NPA was working with the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to rehabilitate all ports’ access roads in the country to ensure a level playing field and to also facilitate trade.

    According to her, NPA and the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing will develop a mechanism for funding all reconstruction and rehabilitation of ports’ access roads.

    She said that government had also approved the commencement of reconstruction of Tin-Can Island Port access road to Mile that the contractor would start work any moment.

    She also said that the Apapa Port had been illuminated for 24-hour port operations, noting that the authority was working toward an electronic gate system to stop touting within the port environment.

    Usman said that NPA had put in place an aggressive monitoring mechanism, adding that the authority visited the site from time to time to check the progress and any bottleneck within the construction area.

    NAN reports that the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, had on June 16, 2017, signed a N4.34 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dangote Group and other stakeholders for the reconstruction of Apapa Wharf Road.

    The project is being funded by AG Dangote Construction Company Ltd., an arm of the Dangote Group, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Flour Mills of Nigeria.

    Fashola had explained that the gridlock in Apapa became compounded and had reached an unbearable level as transporters ignored the old system of moving cargo through rail to trucks and containers.

    He said that the choice of the transporters to use road instead of rail for haulage increased gridlock, caused degeneration as well as well hardship to residents of Apapa.

    Read also: ‘My intervention on East-West Road yielding results’

    He commended the leadership role’ of the stakeholders in solving the complex problems in Apapa and its environs.

    According to him, the situation has caused stress to residents, business owners and other stakeholders in the state.

    “As a result of all these unsavoury practices, we have reached a point of near total gridlock. It is difficult to move cargo in or out; difficult for residents to get home and this must stop,’’ he said.

    Fashola said that it took time to reach an agreement on the project because the stakeholders were putting up an effective design that would address the drainage problem because the area was water-logged.

    The minister said that though the three parties (Dangote, Flour Mills and NPA) were funding the project, the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing would supervise it through all the stages to ensure quality and compliance to standards.

    The construction commenced on July 17, 2017.

  • NPA’s pilotage contract with INTELS stands terminated

    NPA’s pilotage contract with INTELS stands terminated

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) boats pilotage monitoring and supervision contract with INTELS Nigeria Limited remains terminated, the authority’s Chief Executive, Hadiza Usman, has said.

    The NPA boss told newsmen on Monday in Lagos that the contract was terminated on the advice of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minster of Justice, Malam Abubakar Malami.

    According to her, the legal advice was contained in an AGF’s letter dated Sept. 27, 2017, which was a response to NPA’s May 31, 2017 letter in which it sought clarity on the matter.

    Usman said that she had raised letters and held several meetings with INTELS management to comply with the Federal Government’s directive on the Treasury Single Account (TSA) since she assumed office 15 months ago.

    “They (INTELS) maintained their stand not to make payment to NPA. They want to deduct 28 per cent commission and other costs.

    “NPA says a TSA account has been opened and that at the end of the month, there will be reconciliation of accounts but INTELS refused.
    “Will I spend 15 months talking to a company to comply with the constitution of the country?” she asked.

    Usman explained that all further attempts by the NPA to get the company obey the payment directive was met with various excuses.
    She said the NPA management would proceed on a transitional arrangement to engage another firm.

    On fear of job losses, the managing director said that the workers would be absorbed by any entity that took up the job.

    On repair of port access roads, Usman said she had sent so many letters to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, to provide clarity on budgetary provisions for the port access roads.

    Similarly, she said that the bad state of Ikom Bridge in Cross River had not allowed containers to move to the northern part of the country.

    The managing director, however, said that it was not under the purview of the NPA to provide N1.8 billion for the rehabilitation of port access roads.

    On the controversial contract on buoys, she said that the NPA management had discovered concerned officers that misguided the authority on the contract.

    “We need buoys. We are going to buy more buoys.

    “We hope that the controversy will be resolved to enable the firm – Marina Energy- to continue,’’ she said. (NAN)

  • Apapa/Wharf road: NPA MD directs contractor to improve performance

    Apapa/Wharf road: NPA MD directs contractor to improve performance

    The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Usman, has urged AG Dangote, the contractor handling Apapa/Wharf Road to improve on its performance.

    Usman made the plea after inspecting the Wharf access roads in company of her management team in Lagos on Saturday, noting that better performance would reduce the stress in doing business at the ports.

    She said: “The construction commenced on July 17 and the contractor has not been able to reach the optimum performance as expected.

    “They are still within one to two per cent completion stage and one to two per cent of what they required to deploy within this period.

    “They have indicated the concerns and constraints they have around relocation of utilities, they have identified and found gas pipelines underneath the road works.

    “They are working on relocating roads and they also identified electric cables and poles that need to be relocated and other forms of utilities.

    “I had made them understood that their level of performance is unacceptable. They need to increase and deploy more efficiently.”

    According to her, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing is in discussion with the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to ensure that the construction company reviewed and approve accordingly.

    She frowned at the level of construction work on the Apapa/Wharf road, adding that the level of construction was slow.

    The NPA chief said the two-kilometre road would be completed within a year as stipulated, adding that the concern expressed by the contractor would be resolved.

    NAN

     

     

  • NPA gets Senate’s ultimatum on missing vessels

    NPA gets Senate’s ultimatum on missing vessels

    The Senate on Thursday, gave the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Usman, four days to explain the whereabouts of over 282 vessels allegedly missing from the sea ports.

    Sen. Hope Uzodinma, Chairman, Senate’s Joint Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff and Marine Transport, gave the ultimatum in Abuja, at an investigative hearing on N30 trillion lost through leakages in Customs and other agencies.

    Uzodinma, who expressed displeasure with the managing director for not honouring the committee’s two previous invitations, said the information on the vessels was imperative and must be available within four days.

    He threatened that the senate may be compelled to pursue a financial crime case against Usman should he fail to heed the committee’s directive.

    “We are looking for these vessels. We have the date of arrival, the ports of discharge and manifest.

    “Everything is with us but in information available to us, no money was collected by Customs, the NPA or any other person.

    “So you have four days to do your written explanation otherwise, we will consider it a financial crime,’’ he said.

    According to Uzodinma, there are also recent missing vessels that we have discovered.

    “I mean recent ones that happened under the new management.

    “The NPA is the custodian of the vessels; it received the cargoes and the terminal is theirs.

    “We want to know under whose authority the cargoes were released, “he said.

    The lawmaker said that the committee had also uncovered the activities of a port cabal that had defrauded the nation to the tune of over N30 trillion.

    “It is common knowledge that infractions abound in daily transactions at the nation’s ports, commercial banks, shipping companies, terminal owners and operators.

    “They connive at ease with officials to defraud the nation of trillions of Naira.

    “Preliminary evidence before us suggests that this is the case in all sea ports,’’ he said.

    He expressed concern that the leakages and infractions were costing the country huge revenue losses, while also constituting security threat.

    The lawmaker, however, expressed optimism that the Senate was determined to tackle the assault on the economy.

    He said that in doing so, the committee would be minded by the reality that those who wanted to bleed the nation to death without remorse must be dealt with without reprieve.

    “Consequently, all those indicted in this crime will be made to face the full wrath of the law.

    “The nature and methodologies of these infractions include abuse of Form M and violation of foreign exchange manual issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), incorrect classification, under-valuation and incorrect declaration.

    “Others are incorrect origin, error in calculation, temporary importation, exemptions and waivers, foreign exchange manipulations, unit cost analysis on excise, smuggling and illegal removal of cargo from terminals and lack of exit certificate by vessels.

    “We shall zero our search light into these areas of infraction and we are certain that our suspicions shall be confirmed.

    “Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Ports Authority, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers Council(NSC), shipping companies , operators of bonded terminals and importers and exporters have questions to answer,’’ he said.
    Uzodinma emphasised that the joint committee would carry out its assignment without fear or favour.

    In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, decried the indicting reports about the ports.

    Saraki said that it was disturbing to hear that trillions of Naira in revenue was lost annually within the import and export value chain as a result of financial leakages caused through various malpractice and infractions within the system.

    He said that the Senate would use its oversight functions to expose corruption and ensure that all loopholes and leakages in the revenue system were blocked.

    “We are determined to reverse these financial leakages to enable us to get the much-needed resources to fund our children’s education, healthcare and fix the potholes on our roads.

    “I urge you not leave any stone unturned to ensure that we incrementally eliminate waste and corruption in the management of our resources,’’ he said.

    The president of the senate expressed confidence in the joint committee to carry out a thorough job that would help to sanitise the system.

  • Nigerian pilots to take charge of new NPA tugboats

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says Nigerian pilots are undergoing a three-month training to fully handle the four newly-acquired tug boats.

    NPA Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Usman disclosed this on Wednesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    The NPA inaugurated four 60-tonne buller-pull tugboats with state-of-the-art equipment and fully computerised engines.

    “Currently, we have management service using Landform. Landform is training Nigerian pilots.

    “I think within the period of three months, they will be able to handover to Nigerian captains, who are already on board, now familiarising themselves with the technology.

    “The Nigerian captains are well trained; what they are trying to achieve now is to understand how these automated top-of-the-range tugboats operate, “.

    Usman said that the tugboats would boost marine operation and service delivery in the Lagos Pilotage District as well as improve revenue for the authority.

    She added that the boats would also assist vessels to berth appropriately, enhance navigation and improve management of the channels.

    “The tugboats will provide the authority an avenue where we can tuck in very huge vessels and a lot of our operators have been concerned about the towage services we are providing.

    “With this new entry, in addition to our fleet, we are going to be more efficient in delivering towage services in our pilotage districts.

    “Now, we have nine tugboats. We are going to look at the requirements across the respective zones and then deploy them accordingly.

    “These four tugboats are the top-of-the-range tugboats globally. They are international best tugboats that are available in the market and we have brought them to the Nigerian market.

    “And we believe that they will enhance our maritime operations both in the Eastern and Western zones of the maritime operations,’’ she said.

    NAN reports that NPA acquired four tugboats at the cost of over 30 million US dollars (N9.16 billion) to improve port efficiency.

    The tugboats are MT DAURA, MT UROMI, MT UBIMA and MT MAJIYA

  • Port efficiency: NPA inaugurates four tugboats worth over N9.16b

    Port efficiency: NPA inaugurates four tugboats worth over N9.16b

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has acquired four tugboats at the cost of over N9.16 billion to improve port efficiency.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tugboats are MT DAURA, MT. UROMI, MT. UBIMA and MT. MAJIYA.

    At the inauguration of the tugboats on Wednesday in Apapa, Lagos, the Managing Director, NPA, Ms Hadiza Usman, said that they were needed to assist vessels to berth appropriately into the channels.

    Usman added that the tugboats would enhance navigation and improve management of the channels.

    “The authority is to fulfill its obligation with Joint Venture Channel Management Companies by carrying out capital amendment dredging of the
    channels.

    “The partnership has improved the dredging of the channels.

    “The Lagos channel is up to 13.5 metres deep while more than 100 critical wrecks have been removed from the channels.

    “Through the joint partnership, about 232.3 metres vessels carry up to 3,500 TEU, and such vessels require approximately 11.5 metres depth,’’ Usman said.

    A member of Senate Committee on Marine Transportation, Sen. Binta Garba, who inaugurated Mt. MAJIYA, said that the inauguration would have a multiplier effect on the nation economy.

    Garba said that the senate would not relent in assisting government agencies to develop infrastructure to enable government to generate more revenue.

    She urged the NPA to intensify efforts in revenue generation.

    Mr Emmanuel Adesoye, the Chairman, Board of Directors of NPA, commended the achievement.

    Adesoye said that the tugboats were of the best brands and would serve as a powerful revenue earner.

    Adesoye said that the four tugboats had increased to nine, the number
    of the tugboats available to improve ship anchorage in various channels.

    In a message, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku
    Peterside, also hailed the NPA for the feat.

    Peterside, who was represented by the Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the NIMASA, Alhaji Bashir Jamoh, said that the tugboats would assist in daily operations of the authority and reduce turnaround time of vessels calling at the ports.

    “Before now, attention had always been in the recurrent expenditure in Nigeria, but the current administration shifted to capital expenditure which is the catalyst to economic growth and development.

    “Infrastructure development is crucial to the growth of the maritime sector and by extension the Nigerian economy, particularly now that the Federal Government is diversifying the economy in order to create more jobs and generate more revenue.

    “The efforts of NPA will go a long way in assisting the government to realise its agenda and also help to plug revenue leakages at this time the country is trying to get out of recession.

    “The Dockyard will save Federal Government at least 100 million
    dollars annually which will be direct savings from the dry docking of vessels operating in Nigeria,’’ Peterside said.

    He said that it was Nigeria’s desire to partner with the private sector to
    run the dockyard, adding that NIMASA would continue its collaboration
    with NPA and other sister-agencies in ensuring safe and secure maritime domain.

    Mrs Nike Akande, President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce, said that there was the need to provide necessary facilities in the ports.

    Akande expressed satisfaction that the NPA procured the tugboats under the leadership of a woman.

    She said that the inauguration of the tugboats would ease operations in the ports.

    Rear Admiral Ferguson Bobai, Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command,
    urged the management of NPA to assist the navy to train its officers and men
    on the operations of the tugboats.

    Bobai said that full operations of the tugboat would improve turnaround time in ports.

    He, however, urged that the tugboats be handled properly to avoid accidents.

    The Managing Director, Depase Company, Mr Gadi Ilan, commended the NPA for giving the company the opportunity to train the Nigeria crew on additional operations regarding the tugboats.

    Mrs Lizy Ovbude, Managing Director, Ports and Terminal Operators Nig. Ltd., urged the NPA management to extend the operations of the tugboats to the Eastern Port.

    Ovbude said that terminal operators usually ended up hiring tugboats from private companies to enable them to anchor their vessels safely.

     

  • Hadiza Usman is MD of NPA

    Hadiza Usman is MD of NPA

    The Federal Government  yesterday appointed Ms Hadiza Usman as Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

    The information is contained in a statement by the Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Yetunde Sonaike in Abuja.

    Sonaike stated that others appointed were Mohammed Bello-Koko as Executive Director, Finance; Prof. Idris Abubakar, Executive Director Engineering; Dr Sekonte Davies as Executive Director, Marine Operations.

    She noted that Usman was born on January  2, 1976 in Zaria, Kaduna State and has a B.Sc. Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and a Post Graduate in Development Studies from University of Leeds, UK in 2009.

    She worked at Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) from July 2000 to August 2004 as Enterprise Officer and hired by the UNDP for the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) from October 2004 to January  2008 as Special Assistant to the Minister on Project Implementation.

    The new NPA boss, Sonaike added, worked as Director of Strategy of Good Governance Group, a Non-Governmental Organisation from  2011 to July 2015 and appointed as Chief of Staff to Governor Ahmed El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State, a position she held until the present appointmet.