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Tag: NPA

  • NPA trains workers to improve service delivery

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has embarked on a capacity building project aimed at developing strategies to make it relevant.

    The project is focused on efficient service delivery, preservation and digital archiving of its achievements.

    A firm, KITTR Consulting, it was gathered, has been contracted to train some NPA workers who will lead transformation.

    Its Lead Consultant, Saada Baba-Mohammed, gave kudos to the Hadiza Bala-Usman-led administration the unique opportunity to enhance the workers’ knowledge of digital preservation and archiving.

    “There is no training which is negative. The project is expected to cover a wide range of areas ranging from communication, documentation and then archiving of document.

    “I believe at the end of the exercise, what they are expected to do is to go back to their respective offices, look at where they got it wrong, and then add value to it, and see how they can move forward in terms of keeping records,”he said.

    NPA’s General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Abdullahi Goje, said NPA would not only train, but build capacity to improve service delivery.

    He said NPA officials interacted with people from diverse backgrounds, hence, the need for the training to ensure that they added value to the system. He added that facilities had been put in place for the training and the NPA had moved from analogue to digital.

    A Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr. Ismail Ibraheem, said constructive engagement with key stakeholders required that NPA embraced the infrastructure and architecture necessary for preserving and archiving of important documents.

    “We live in a brutal and unforgiving world of shared experience accentuated by the pervasive presence of the media and globalisation. It is therefore, imperative to develop as an organisation in the image you want the world to see you. This is why documentation, archiving and digital preservation are imperative,” he said.

    According to Dr. Ngozi Ukachi, the training will enable the NPA to store old materials to meet the needs of information seekers, who want this to be available and accessible on the go in this digital age.

    Stressing that the world  was one huge electronic place, she urged NPA and similar organisations to follow the lead of higher institutions, which had developed repositories for storing digital archived materials.

  • NPA should decentralise operations to end gridlocks in Apapa Port – NUPENG

    The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has advised Nigerian Ports Authority to extend operations to other locations to discongest Apapa Port and end gridlocks in the area.

    Mr Tayo Aboyeji, NUPENG South-West Chairman, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday.

    “When Apapa Port started operation in 1970, it was only made for 30,000 cargoes but now it has over 80,000 cargoes yet no infrastructural development.

    “The management of NPA should extend the port infrastructure to accommodate incoming trucks because they are the ones blocking other road users.

    “They can also create another port in Epe and Badagry to decongest the one in Apapa,” he said.

    Aboyeji said that the union would support any step taking by both Federal Government and Lagos State Government to end the gridlock.

    NAN reports that on March 9, Gov.  Akinwunmi Ambode, inaugurated a committee to address persistent gridlock across Lagos metropolis.

    The committee was chaired by the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Ladi Lawanson.

    Other members include representatives of the Nigeria Police, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), LASTMA, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN). (NAN)

  • Senate threatens to halt budgets of 444 defaulting agencies

    Senate threatens to halt budgets of 444 defaulting agencies

    The Senate has threatened to halt work on the 2018 budgets of no fewer than 444 federal commissions, agencies, corporations and parastatals for failure to submit their account records to the Auditor General for the Federation over the years.

    The action of the agencies contravened Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which mandated such federal agencies to submit their audited reports to the Auditor General, for onward transmission to the National Assembly.

    Worried by the development, the Senate on Wednesday gave the affected agencies till the end of May 2018 to comply or have their 2018 budget proposals withdrawn.

    Chairman Senate Public Accounts Committee, Senator Matthew Urhoghide (PDP, Edo State), while presenting a report at plenary on Wednesday, pointed out that of the 491 federal agencies, only 47 have fully complied by submitting their audited reports for 2017.

    The agencies that have complied included: Assets Management Company to Nigeria (AMCON); Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Abuja Property Development Company; Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre; National Law Reform Commission; National Agricultural Seeds Council; National Open University; University of Abuja among others.

    In all, Urhoghide revealed that 444 agencies are yet to comply.

    Among the defaulting agencies, 85 had never submitted audit report since they were created. While others are in arrears for five to 17 years.

    The report listed some of the agencies yet to submit their reports since inception to include: Bank of Industry (BoI); Bank of Agriculture (BoA); Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); FCT Internal Revenue Service; FCT Universal Basic Education Board; Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria; Abuja Infrastructural Investment Centre; National Automotive Council among others.

    The report also named parastatals that are yet to submit their audited accounts between six and 10 years to include the Debt Management Office (DMO); Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); National Insurance Commission; Financial Reporting Council; Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE); and Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.

    Others are Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP); National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS); Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) among others.

    The committee chairman said that many of the parastatals were not willing to submit their audited accounts without being compelled, adding that many of the parastatals do not take issues of accountability in public expenditure seriously.

    He accused the Auditor-General of placing less premium on high profile federal agencies with huge accounts like the NNPC, NPA, NIMASA, CBN, TETFUND, etc.

    “An agency like the EFCC misinterprets the reporting requirement in their enabling Acts to violate the Constitution,” he stated.

    Other recommendations by the committee urged the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation to constantly update and reconcile with parastatals on their status of compliance.

    It also urged the Auditor General to liaise with the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to clarify status of privatised and merged/scrapped Parastatals.

    It also recommended adequate budgetary allocations to the office of the Auditor-General to enhance performance.

    Read Also: Senate, Reps bicker over NFIU bill

  • Bala Usman: NPA committed to improving Delta ports

    Bala Usman: NPA committed to improving Delta ports

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)  remains commit-ted to improving the patronage of Delta ports to boost public revenue, its Managing Director Ms Hadiza Bala Usman has said.

    Speaking with The Nation on the sideline of the just-concluded stakeholders’ forum organised by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in Warri, Delta State, Ms Usman assured shippers, exporters, stakeholders and other operators that the agency will stimulate economic activities in the area.

    She said the meeting was part of the Federal Government’s efforts through the NPA, NIMASA, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council and other agencies to reposition the seaports for rapid economic activities.

    Sources at the Delta port told The Nation that NPA has repaired some of the Tug Boats and a Pilot Cutters to facilitate trade and boost efficiency at ports.

    Delta Shippers’Association (DELSA) President Dr Austin Egbegbadia said the Delta ports are strategically located to enhance the growth and development of the economy.

    Egbegbadia identified the following as the potential of the port: The distance for moving cargoes to catchment states of Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Edo, Kogi, Abuja, Benue, Katsina and Kano is short compared with other operational ports; it gives the shippers the benefits of choice as Delta port manages four standard location, despite the challenges; the port can generate its cargoes and has excellent delivery of cargo; its turnaround time for vessels is excellent; quick identification and documentation of cargoes and security of cargoes is guaranteed and adequate modern facilities to handle various cargoes are assured by the concessionaires.

    While allying the fear of importers and exporters, he said the group had decided to promote the ports to boost merchant shipping and add significant value to the economy of the region as far as non-oil exports are concerned.

    “Some of the challenges we are facing is the erroneous perception that the Delta ports are unsafe to both local and international investors. This hype is largely fermented by mischievous elements whose sole purpose is to draw some sort of gain by such derogatory news,’ he said.

    Egbegbadia called for the dredging of the Escravos Bar that leads into the Warri ports, saying this would lead to job creation and wealth creation.

    Meanwhile, the government is set to automate ports operations across the country, NIMASA Director-General, Dr Dakuku Peterside has said .

    Speaking at the stakeholders’ meeting, Peterside said this would assist the government to reduce human contact and corruption, and promote transparency in the industry.

    The theme of the event was: “Implementation of Executive Order One (1) – Ease of Doing Business in a secure maritime environment”.

    In a communiqué at the end of the meeting, the stakeholders agreed on the following: The Ministry of Transportation and its agencies should explore alternate financing windows, such as the establishment of Maritime Bank to address the financing gap created by the unsuitability of lending rates of banks for the shipping business; revive NIMAREX as a platform for bridging the gap between the shipping industry and prospective international investors to provide impetus for growth and investment.

    Others are that government agencies should address the challenge of under-declaration of cargo at ports to plug revenue leakage. It should seek the dredging of the Escravos Bar to facilitate the access of large dry cargo vessels into Warri ports, they added.

    The stakeholders said the government should collaborate with the maritime communities to rely on their  knowledge and intelligence for fighting maritime crimes, such as piracy, sea robbery and vessel hijack.

    For manpower development and capacity building, the stakehol-ders said the government should consider a return to the former system, where the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Inland Waterways Agency (NIWA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) contributed to the training of Master Mariners who are 180 with over 75 per cent above the retirement age.

    They also said the government should establish transit parks for trucks waiting to access the ports and implement an automated call-up system that prevents their proliferation around the ports to resolve the gridlock in Apapa.

     

  • TSA: INTELS pays N13.2b to NPA

    TSA: INTELS pays N13.2b to NPA

    INTELS Nigeria Limited has paid $42.6 million (N13.2 billion) to the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA)’s Single Treasury Single Account (TSA), NPA Managing Director Ms Hadiza Bala Usman said yesterday.

    She told members of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee probing the strain in relationship between the two organisations, that the company after receiving termination notice from the Agency, wrote to apologise for not complying with the TSA and the new sharing formula.

    She said as a result, INTELS has paid the sum $28.1million into the Agency’s TSA account with a notice of additional $14.5million said to have been paid, but yet to be confirmed by the NPA.

    “The implementation of TSA by the Federal Government compelled the authority to remit revenue generated directly into government coffers while NPA in turn pays agency fees of 28 percent of whatever was generated to INTELS,” she said.

    She said according to NPA’s calculation of $4 million per month as government’s share, based on the previous agreement, what accrued to NPA would be $48 million.

    Usman said NPA has two layers of relationship with INTELS namely management agency where it collects revenues on behalf of NPA and keeps 28 percent and port infrastructure development on the basis of which INTELS constructed and manages the Onne Port in Rivers State.

    She explained that the initial agreement gave INTEL the powers to generate and keep 28 percent of revenue collected on behalf of NPA.

    “The NPA under the new management had to come up with a new draft that incorporated a sharing formula in a model that complies with the TSA, which was why we said they should start remitting directly to the TSA while the NPA pays its 28 percent agency fees,” she added.

    The agreement, according to her, expires in 2020, which makes it 10 years.

  • NPA’s trade facilitation excites operators, stakeholders, importers

    The Nigerian Ports Authority  (NPA) has embarked on trade facilitation programmes to boost trade at the ports, and the importers and clearing agents are happy for it, The Nation has learnt.

    Its Managing Director (MD) Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, it was gathered, has directed the agency’s officials to attend to every document on their table within 24 hours or be sanctioned.

    Some senior officers of the authority, it was gathered, had been queried for delaying customers’ papers.

    Sources at NPA said she had instructed every staff member to adopt the trade facilitation programme of the Federal Government by fast-tracking cargo clearance papers and implementing  government policies on quick cargo clearance to  to generate more revenue and boost the  economy.

    No paper, it was learnt, stays on her table for more than 24 hours without receiving attention.

    Sources said she had to go to some departments last week to ensure that customers’ papers were not delayed.

    This new approach, it was learnt, was responsible for the success the authority recorded at the ports and  in terms of the modernisation and transformation of NPA’s operations, a development, which importers and other operators said, contributed to the quick clearance of cargoes from the  ports

    The MD, stakeholders said, had no option than to embark on trade facilitation because she had received the support of President Muhammadu Buhari to re-organise and manage one of the highest revenue-yielding government agencies.

    Her zeal and patriotism for the development of  the economy, findings revealed, was responsible for why she was appointed to carry out the onerous task which, stakehold-ers said, she had  done diligently.

    TheAssociation of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, said Ms Usman does not joke with trade facilitation.

    “No paper stays on Ms Usman’s table for more than 12 hours before she releases them for quick cargo clearance.This is also because she has made the principle her watch word since her assumption of office as the Managing Director and in all the ports.

    “She believes that when any document experiences delay, the implications can be more. Thus, as far as she is concerned, prompt treatment of documents is a must in port operations.

    ‘’According to her, the documents represent money and the government needs the money to develop tpeople,“ he said.

    Shittu also described Ms Usman as a humble and listening leader who attend to every issue brought to her attention to attract business to the port.

    Besides, a senior officer of the authority, Mr Ibrahim Nosiru and others who do not want their names in print, said Ms Usman had inculcated her trade facilitation message in her officers and taught them why they must not delay documents.

    “The Managing Director has tutored us that when you delay import documents, you increase the cost of clearing such goods, because you make the importers to accumulate demurrage and you delay the purpose for which such goods would have been put to used for the proper development of  the economy, ” he said.

     

     

  • NPA: only eight agencies free to operate in ports

    NPA: only eight agencies free to operate in ports

    The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has directed the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) to ensure compliance to the October 26, 2011, directive on agencies permitted to operate in the ports.

    The NPA, in a statement yesterday, said only eight federal agencies were allowed to operate and be represented in all ports.

    The agencies are:  NPA, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Police, Department of State Sevices (DSS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Port Health and the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    The statement by General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Abdullahi Goje, said: “Other agencies not mentioned in the list above should remain outside the port premises as the Nigerian Customs Service, which is the lead agency for inspection of cargoes, has developed standard operating procedures to facilitate their seamless operation.

    “The NPA remains committed to the determination of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to enhance the ease of doing business in the country and the improvement of conditions under which business is carried out in all ports across the country.

    “The authority solicits for the kind support of all agencies and stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime sector towards actualising the noble goal of making Nigeria a destination of choice for all legitimate businesses.”

  • NPA declares N299.56b revenue for 2017

    NPA declares N299.56b revenue for 2017

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says it generated N299.56 billion last year – its highest revenue in five years.

    The agency, in a statement endorsed by its General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Abdullahi Goje, explained that the last time the agency yielded a remarkable income was in 2015 when it recorded revenue of N180.50 billion.

    It generated N154.50 billion in 2013, N159.30 billion in 2014 and N162.20 billion in 2016.

    “The 2017 figure declared by the authority is made up of revenues from traffic, harbours, administrative and others sources in the sum of N136.04 billion, N66.80 billion, N86.06 billion and N10.75 billion respectively,” the statement read.

    In December, its Managing Director Hadiza Bala-Usman, said NPA surpassed its 2017 revenue target.

    She said: “Over N118 billion was raked in, in the first quarter of the year (2017). We are grateful that we have attained most of the goals that we set for ourselves.

    “We have maintained an open door policy which has made it possible…to achieve the very important task of repositioning port operations in Nigeria for better efficiency.”

  • NPA generates N299.5bn revenue in 2017

    NPA generates N299.5bn revenue in 2017

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has generated N299.5 billion revenue in 2017, General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Alhaji Abdullahi Goje,  said in a a statement Tuesday in Lagos.

    He said that the figure exceeded the N162.2 billion generated in 2016 by 84.65 percent.

    Goje added that the 2017 figure was the highest generated revenue by the Authority in the past five years.

    “In 2013, the NPA generated the sum of N154.50 billion. This increased to N159.30 billion and N180.50 billion in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

    “The Authority’s revenue however dropped to N162.20 billion in 2016.

    “The 2017 figure declared by the Authority is made up of revenues from traffic, harbors, administrative and other sources of the sum of N136.04 billion, N66.80 billion, N86.06 billion and N10.75 billion respectively, ” he said. (NAN)

  • OGFZA, NPA partner on free zone operation

    The Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) has opened discussions with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to forge closer ties on issues ranging from use of land in the ports where oil and gas free zones are located to strategic cooperation.

    The strategic engagement  between the two agencies began at the weekend when theOGFZA Managing Director, Mr Umana Okon Umana, paid a courtesy call on the NPA Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, at the NPA head office on the Marina, Lagos.

    Briefing Usman on the series of reforms and progress in the free zones since he took over as chief executive officer in September 2016, Umana said more would be achieved with greater support and cooperation of the NPA. He proposed a partnership agreement in which the NPA would cede lands to OGFZA in the nation’s seaports hosting oil and gas free zones to free up access to land for investors in the form of subleases. Suggesting that the proposal should be formalised with an MOU, Umana explained that OGFZA would administer such leaseholds in collaboration with the NPA.

    He emphasised that collaboration between OGFZA and the NPA on land use and other policy issues would have positive impact on the ease of doing business in the free zones in line with the policy thrust of the Federal Government.

    Usman commended the managing director of OGFZA on his efforts to sanitize the free zones by insisting that all licensees comply with extant laws and regulations and pledged unflinching support to OGFZA in the bid to realise the full objectives and potential of the oil and gas free zones.

    She expressed full support for Mr. Umana’s position that OGFZA and NPA needed to strengthen their collaboration to ensure that a level playing field is provided for all licencees and concessionaires.