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Tag: NPA

  • NPA acquires $30m tug boats to boost revenue

    NPA acquires $30m tug boats to boost revenue

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has acquired four 60-tonne buller- pull tug boats with state-of-the-art equipment and fully computerised engines, to boost efficiency and increase government revenue at the ports.

    The boats, it was gathered, are worth over $30million.

    The boats – Mt Daura, Mt Ubima, Mt Uromi and Mt Majaya – were built by DAMEN Engineering, a Netherlands under strict supervision of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The engines were built by Roll Royce.

    They were delivered and moored by Depasa Marine Service Limited at the Continental Shipyard Limited in Apapa.

    Speaking at the commissioning of the boats yesterday, NPA Managing Director Ms Hadiza Bala Usman said the acquisition of the boats became necessary because  of the change in the world transportation system and  the need to meet the increasing demands of stakeholders  in Lagos and other Pilotage Districts across the country.

    Each of the boats came with twin fire fighting pumps, with a reach above 300 meters and a flow of over 600 cubic meters per hour of water and foam.

    The boats  are “one of the best in the world and the strongest in their class”.

    With the commissioning and acquisition of the boats, Ms Usman said,  NPA has increased its fleet  to nine. The aim is to end stakeholders’ complaints of tugs capability and insufficiency.

    Before the boat acquisition, the biggest tug boats in Lagos had capacity not beyond 40-tonnes buller-pulls. The biggest in Port Harcourt pilotage district was not up to 50-tonnes buller pulls. Unlike others before them, the new tug boats have slimmer bodies and narrow bridges (wheel house), with inclined exhausts, meaning that they could get closer to the large ships without hurting either the ships or themselves; thereby making them highly effective. At full throttle, the boats can do a speed of at least 14 knots, either forward or backwards.

    The managing director said the boats would be deployed for efficient delivery of towage services at the sea ports.

    She added that the acquisition of the boats would enhance the technology of towage services and stressed that the boats were revenue earners for the Federal Government.

    The boats were also acquired to provide safety of bigger vessels. They will also be used for Search and Rescue (SAR) operations.

    “They are the best in the world and we have brought them to Nigeria market and we believe they will enhance our maritime market within Eastern and Western zones of our maritime operations,” Ms. Usman said.

    The Chairman of the NPA Board  Mr Emmanuel Adesoye, said the acquisition of the boats was a great accomplishment for the authority.

    Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General Dr Dakuku Peterside, who was represented by the Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Bashir Jamoh praised the NPA for acquiring the tugs, which he said would enhance the turn-around time of vessels calling at the ports.”

  • NPA: Disguised attacks

    It is precisely in such places where government revenues are collected in prodigious quantities that corrupt activities have long thrived and become second nature.

    So, it comes as no surprise that the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director (MD), Hadiza Bala Usman, finds herself a lightning rod for the fight back of the vested interests that stand to lose the most from the changes being introduced at the NPA.

    The attacks are calculated to undermine the management of the NPA by questioning and misrepresenting the changes and best business practices being introduced, and the motivation behind decision making.

    The range of criticisms and accusations levelled against the MD do not go to integrity or competence; what they do is proclaim that if the persons making them were in her position, they would not hesitate to breach and betray trust after trust, time after time.

    One particular hatchet job suggested that the positions of the MD and her ex-husband, Mr. Taminu Yakubu, represent a conflict of interest. Nothing could be further from the truth! The scurrilous piece titled “Crisis of confidence rocks integrity of Nigerian Ports Authority,” failed to reflect that the so-called couple are in fact divorced and were so at all material times; that contrary to the writer’s positive affirmation, Mr. Taminu Yakubu was never a member of the APC presidential campaign policy advisory committee, and so couldn’t have chaired such a committee (the committee chair was in fact Dr. Kayode Fayemi); and, the piece also failed to state that Mr. Tanimu’s resignation from the technical advisory board of the port operator Ladol, renders any claims of a conflict of interest nugatory.

    This willingness to ditch the truth and deal instead in conjecture and convenience is the hallmark of those that would block the route to change. What is in the best interest of the vested interests will more often than not get in the way of policies directed to achieve the best interests of all Nigerians.

    The vitriolic nature of recent publications, alongside the deployment of deliberate falsehoods, means there must be particularly strong and passionate vested interests threatened by the broom of change sweeping the NPA.

    There is little attempt to inquire, investigate or validate; rather it is conjecture built on supposition, and conclusions that are self- serving.

    Yet, no one has stepped forward to claim ownership of the outlandish assertions. By following the money, however, we may draw certain conclusions that will not be far from the truth. The distinguishing feature of the way the affairs of the NPA have been traduced lies in the cavalier attitude of concessionaires and other operators and stakeholders towards the regulatory environment.

    Operators have for a long time been accustomed to inconvenient rules being bent to their will, or avoided altogether. The process of rolling back these impunities has ruffled the feathers of several large operators who would rather thwart the nation’s best interests than regulate their aggressive acquisitiveness.

    As a matter of policy, this government and its agents have sought to introduce nationwide benchmarks; one of these is the use of the Treasury Single Account for domiciling government revenue, howsoever generated.

    The coming into operation of that directive means that the NPA must collect and pay all proceeds coming to it in the ordinary course of business into a designated account, as an activity separate and distinct from the appropriation and disbursal of funds for budgeted activities.

    That single directive has introduced a degree of fiscal discipline into the affairs of all MDAs and served to reduce corruption and the scope for impunity. The systematic introduction by the MD, alongside government-wide directives, of best business practices into the NPA has further reduced the opportunity for malfeasance and compounded the distemper of the vested interests.

    A principal part of the reforms required has been tackling the monopolies that have grown out of a system more attuned to the interests of operators and concessionaires than the interests of the country. Nowhere do such monopolies threaten more than in oil- sector port operations, and none of the machinations playing out will be far removed from this most lucrative of sectors.

    Significant challenges have manifest in the drive to recover huge indebtedness from port concessionaires, and introduce strict compliance with the requirement that remittance of throughput fees and other levies be dollar denominated, pursuant to their concession agreements.

    This MD was always going to challenge an existing order that reflects and represents the problems and historical burdens of the NPA. The level of outstanding debt owed the NPA (over N30bn) is staggering and yet despite that, the MD found the concessionaires and other operators unwilling to partner with the NPA.

    Instead of partnering, they have constituted themselves into an active obstacle to reforms that are clearly overdue in the NPA. Those in line to profit most from the continuation of a clearly corrupt, monopolistic and inefficient operating environment are the unseen hand behind the thrust to the heart of an organisation that is key to the government’s overall reforms.

    If Nigeria is to become the continental investment hub it needs to be to sustain its large population, its main gateways must speak to that aspiration in deed as much as in words. The reform of the NPA is a journey that must precede that objective or we labour in vain.

    The level of resistance is not unexpected; the resort to vitriol and a no-holds barred mindset speaks volumes for the stakes in play. These agents of retrogression must no longer be allowed to shape the narrative of the NPA.

    The fact that the messenger of change comes in the form of a hard-working person impervious to the usual pressure to return to the bad old days is the main reason they are hell-bent on bringing a halt to the MD’s reforms.

    “Cowardice asks the question: Is it safe? Expediency asks the question: Is it politic? Vanity asks the question: Is it popular? But conscience asks the question: Is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular….but one must take it because it’s right.” –  Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

     

    • Oyedele wrote in from Abuja

  • NPA gets new PRO

    The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, has appointed Mr Effiong Etim Nduonofit General Manager, Public Affairs.

    The new image maker assumed office after his predecessor, Chief Michael Kayode Ajayi, retired last week.

    After the handing over, Nduonofit urged members of the staff to support him in his quest to boost the image of the authority and its personnel.

    “Collaboration must be the watchword as we navigate the very challenging task of ensuring that NPA takes its place of pride among notable institutions across the globe,” he said.

    Nduonofit also urged officers of the unit to continue to promote the image of the authority and brace to the new vista in line with the change mantra of the Federal Government.

    He urged them to key into the vision of the agency.

    Before his appointment,  Nduonofit was an Assistant General Manager (AGM) Audit.

    He holds a Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) and Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Calabar between (1996-1998) and (1999-2001).

  • ‘Competitors behind media attacks on Intels’

    ‘Competitors behind media attacks on Intels’

    The Coordinator, Concerned Maritime Professionals (CMP), Mr. Charles Obi, has condemned incessant media attacks on leading logistics service provider, Intels Nigeria Ltd.

    The group said this in a letter sent to the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, copies of which were made available to newsmen on Thursday in Lagos.

    According to the group, the media attacks are being sponsored by competitors for selfish motives.

    “Our attention has been drawn to incessant attacks in the media against private terminal operators in the Nigerian maritime industry, especially Intels Nigeria Ltd.

    “Intels is one of the few thriving businesses and the largest employer of labour in the maritime sector.

    “Despite the harsh economic environment, the company has weathered the storm, offering world-class services that could compete both nationally and internationally.

    “Recently we have seen organised attacks in the media against the company that has served as robust revenue source for the government especially at this time when so many companies are on bent knees.

    “We consider this uncalled for,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes the group as saying.

    CMP said it was not holding brief for Intels and would stand up for any company in Nigeria unjustly pummelled by any group.

    The group said the Federal Government should advise media houses not to allow themselves to be used by competitors to run down the few thriving businesses in Nigeria.

    “Recently, we see the trend of attacks against Intels Nigeria Ltd, ranging from unfounded allegations of monopoly and alleged indebtedness.

    “To be sure, Intels is not the only company in the One Free Zone and so cannot be accused of monopoly.

    “There are close to 200 firms that operate in the zone with each of them professionally managed and duly regulated by appropriate agencies of government,’’ the group said.

    According to the group, Intels has operated in the zone for three decades and made meaningful contributions to the socio-economic development of the country.

    “Other operators have the freedom to break the so-called monopoly by investing heavily in the maritime sector, just as Intels has done over three decades.’’

    “On the alleged indebtedness of Intels to NPA, we have it on good authority that Intels has written letters to NPA asking for reconciliation of accounts.

    “Both organisations should be given the opportunity to set up a committee to reconcile contentious areas in line with the concession agreement.

    “Media attacks against this Nigerian company will do no one any good,” the group said.

    It said Intels provided more than 500,000 direct and indirect jobs in the country.

    The group said the media attacks against Intels would send the wrong signal to foreign investors, especially at this critical time when “the country is in dire need of foreign direct investment’’.

     

  • Cargo surveyors okay NPA’s process

    Cargo surveyors have expressed confidence that the cargo surveying bidding process at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) complies with international best practices and extant Nigerian laws and would further enhance transparency and competence at the nation’s ports.

    A leading professional surveyor at the Lagos port and chairman of Seabed International Limited, Sheikh Yakubu Abdallah said the NPA Cargo Surveyors Association has full confidence in the management of NPA led by Hajiya Hadiza Bala Usman and the ongoing cargo survey contract bidding process.  He was reacting to allegations of bias leveled by unnamed persons in a newspaper publication.

    Abdallah said the allegations of bias were being made by aggrieved parties who bided for cargo survey contract at the NPA but were jittery that they may not meet the competitiveness and requirements for such duty.

  • NPA partners FRSC on road worthiness of vehicles

    NIGERIAN Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman, has
    given  March 1 as the deadline
    for the enforcement of Minimum Standard of Safety and Road Worthiness (MSSRW) for trucks entering the six major ports.

    Speaking during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) in Lagos, Ms. Usman said the NPA has the responsibility to protect lives and properties of all stakeholders accessing ports services by ensuring that all articulated vehicles and trucks, which daily freight containers, and assorted bulk cargoes to different parts of the country from the ports, meet the required minimum safety standards.

    Ms. Usman said NPA was collaborating with the FRSC as part of efforts to put lasting solutions to the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway gridlock.

    To ensure full compliance, NPA, she said, is collaborating with the FRSC and other safety enforcement agencies to achieve safety standards for trucks accessing the ports by adopting the Road Traffic Safety Standarisation Scheme (RTSSS), which includes regular inspection and certification of the NPA’ fleet.

    She said: “Apapa for example, is home to Nigerian‘s two foremost ports which are being managed by nine terminal operators. Between the two ports, more than 65 per cent of dry cargoes and about 90 per cent of the nation’s liquid (petroleum products) are handled. This is because it hosts about 35 tank farms in addition to the numerous other businesses that are located in this port city.

    “Going by the operational activities highlighted above, there is always heavy vehicular traffic around all port locations and most of these vehicles are not in good state.

    “This debilitating vehicular traffic has assumed a frightening dimension in so many port areas. It has led to serious accidents that have claimed innocent lives and several man hours’ lost in traffic jam. Miscreants, armed robbery and other social vices have been on the increase because of the perennial traffic situation in those areas.”

    She said past efforts by the authority; some state governments and terminal operators to ameliorate the situation were to no avail because most of the vehicles plying the road are not road worthy, urging the FRSC to ensure that no rickety vehicle enters the port.

    FRSC’s Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, said his agency was happy over the NPA‘s initiative. He tasked owners of heavy duty trucks operating within and around the ports on the need to strictly adhere to the minimum safety standards in order to ensure safety of haulage operations, saying FRSC will enforce all the aspects of the MoU.

    He said adequate and appropriate driver education and speed limiter are vital and would therefore be enforced by his men.

    He emphasised that as from the agreed date, the Field Commands of the agency would be fully mobilised for the enforcement of the law.

    While commending NPA for signing the MoU, he enjoyed fleet owners and truck owners’associations to obey the new rules by the NPA, that would be effective fromnext month.

  • Ministry seeks EFCC’s probe of NPA/Depasa JV account

    Ministry seeks EFCC’s probe of NPA/Depasa JV account

    •NPA: mismanagement allegation untrue

    Is a joint venture (JV) between Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Depasa Marine International Limited (DMT) a vehicle for siphoning public funds?

    Some top Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF) officials are pushing for the probe of the JV offshore escrow account by the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for alleged mismanagement.

    But  NPA’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Chief Michael Ajayi, denied the allegation, saying the JV, which maintains the channels leading into Lagos ports, has been “running things for NPA smoothly”.

    “It is not enough for anybody to raise an allegation. The onus lies with the person to substantiate and prove his allegation beyond reasonable doubt. As far as we are concerned, there is no truth in this allegation of mismanagement against NPA and Depasa.

    “You must be able to know what the JV has in its budget before making allegation that the job assigned to the company was either executed or not. It is when the money allocated for a particular project was diverted or used for another purpose that you can claim that there is mismanagement.

    “As far as NPA and Depasa are concerned, the allegation is baseless and has no iota of truth in it,” Ajayi said.

    The FMoF officials are seeking the probe of how the JV’s local and foreign accounts were managed under the last administration.

    The JV came into being on June 7, 2005, following a letter sent by former Transport Minister Dr A. S. P. Sekibo to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    The probe it was learnt, will determine the culpability or otherwise of these directors in what is described as the account’s “mismanagement”.

    It will also ascertain the money paid by the JV to the Federal Government for the two hoppers, S D River Challawa and S D Sea Lion,  leased on a bare-boat charter from NPA since the JV began.

    The JV, a top former official said, was expected to pay $1.8 million yearly to NPA for the boats in the first three years, but it did not. The source said the rate was reviewed thereafter bu the hike was jettisoned by some top NPA officials. The operators of the JV, the official alleged, are not expected to pay the same amount to the government as lease fees yearly.

    The official alleged that the N2 billion operating costs of the JV and Depasa charges for the dredging of the Lagos Channel per cubic metre were outrageous and should be investigatated.

    Some operators of the JV, the official alleged, connived with some past top officials of NPA to short-change the government.

    He urged President Muhammadu Buhari and Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi to ensure that local and foreign audited accounts of the JV were published.

    Officials of the ministry, he said, had questioned the costs of the JV, decrying its contribution to NPA’s manpower development.

    The company, he alleged, has violated the JV’s agreement of training NPA workers, urging Amaechi and the National Assembly to compel it to publish the number of NPA workers it had trained in the past 10 years.

    The official attributed the dearth of professionals the middle and lower cadre of the NPA to the violation of the JV agreement.

    He noted that contrary to the agreement, the former managers of the company paid lip service to human capacity building of NPA.

    “The Board and Managing Director of NPA, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, who chairs the company, should be compelled by the Ministry of Transport and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to publish the number of senior and middle cadre officers of NPA that have benefited from the training programmes organised locally and internationally by the JV company in the last 10 years or more.

    “In the agreement Depasa signed with the Federal Government, NPA’s Managing Director is the chairman of the company, while its Executive Director, Marine Operation, and the Executive Director, Finance are directors of the company.

    “EFCC has been contacted to investigate the fees that the former directors of the company representing the NPA collected from the JV accounts in addition to their salaries from NPA to prevent double payment of salaries to senior public officials.

    “The chairman of the board of NPA and Ms Usman must also be compelled to make public the audited account of the company in the last 10 years and the number of loans taken so far by the company and for what?

    “The company is a private cum public enterprise that is accountable to Nigerians based on the NPA’s 60 per cent equity holding in the JV company.

    “The audited report must show if the unanimous decision of the NPA directors was sought and given in  matters such as- all investments in tangible financial assets; the yearly budget and business plan of the company; distribution of dividends; the designation of all signatories on bank accounts and the appointment of the company’s auditors, among others,” he said.

    The government, the official said, should also seek to know if the company engages in quarterly bathymetric survey in the Lagos Channel and ports as stipulated in the agreement, and demand the name of the surveyors and up to date reports.

    The JV, he said, was required to, on behalf of the NPA, maintain  the Lagos Channel and ports; ensure capital dredging of the Lagos Channel if necessary;  maintain buoy and surveillance in Lagos Channel and ports; plan and manage dredging operations in Lagos Channel and ports; remove wrecks in the Lagos Channel and ports; and ensure visual pollution monitoring and reporting operation.

  • INTELS, others owe NPA over N17b, says ministry official

    INTELS, others owe NPA over N17b, says ministry official

    Despite collecting over $1.2 billion revenue at the ports in six years, the Integrated Logistic Facilities and Services (INTELS) is owing the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) about N4 billion, The Nation has learnt.

    A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF) who pleaded not to be named said,  INTELS officials may be invited by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) next week over the debt.

    The official said some operators at Onne Port were also owing the NPA $7,931,247 (N3.9 billion) and N9,458,785,726.

    The debt, the official said, excluded what the Nigerian  National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other service providers were owing the government through NPA.

    The ministry, the official said, is worried because the government needs money to fix the economy.

    INTELS collected the over $1 billion revenue from service boats between 2010 and last year, the official said.

    INTELS, he said, collected $1.2 billion between January 2010 and September last year, and additional $41 million between October and December.

    Intels indebtedness to the NPA, according to the official, is on rents, lease and throughput fees.

    The firrm, the FMoF official said, has interests in Onne, Warri and Calabar Ports.

    He said: “At Onne and Warri ports, INTELS has over $1 million to pay NPA for lease and throughput fees and N3,343,147,886 for rent at Onne Port. These put together amount to about N4 billion.

    “Between January 2010 and December last year, Intels remitted only $3.4 million to NPA from the service boats revenue it collected. This figure represents 27 per cent of the total service boat revenue collected by the company on behalf of the authority and that is why the Minister of Finance is curious about the amount collected on behalf of the government and the amount remitted to it.

    “Because the total agency commission to Intels which was computed in line with executed agreement was $3.5million and the amount should have been deducted electronically by the company based on the subsisting agreement but the ministry finds out that Credit Notes were issued by the NPA to regularise it.

    “In the agreement signed by Intels with NPA, it provides that Intels shall source for funds for the purpose of executing its various projects. It was based on that that the agreement provided for a finance cost computed at 180 days+6 per cent LIBOR and 180 days +6.5 per cent LIBOR for its phase 4B and Bulinose projects.

    “The ministry has however, discovered that the NPA was not in any way involved in the negotiation for loans by Intels with banks to appreciate the portion liable to finance cost.

    “The FEC is aware that NPA pays Intels on every interim certificate submitted but not amortised, the FEC has also come to know that the company does not pay the authority any interest on revenue collected by it which has not been applied for amortisation due to budget ceiling.

    “Amortisation is the process designed by the NPA to enable Intels recover the cost of its investment in the development of port infrastructure.

    “Both the FEC and some members of the National Assembly are aware that Intels always keep the un-amortised sum in its custody and uses  same for the construction of most of the projects the government suffers the finance cost.

    The FMoF official urged President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate NPA’s revenue being allegedly held back by Intels and the purported loan being sourced privately by the company to execute its projects.

    “To us, at the ministry, NPA is silently suffering from a huge revenue loss that affects its liquidity and paying for finance cost that increases the original contract price it had with INTELS,” the official said.

  • NPA, Customs collaborate

    To promote trade, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Customs Service ( NCS) are collaborating to introduce the much-awaited Single Window (SW) platform at the ports.

    The two agencies, the Managing Director, NPA, Ms Hadiza Balla Usman said, have embarked on the establishment of SW through an intense automation and introduction of Standard Operative Procedure ( SOP) at ports.

    Ms Usman said  the adoption of SW would make Nigeria’s ports competitive in the international trade network and boost the trade facilitation programme of the government.

    Speaking during her courtesy visit to the  Comptroller General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali   (Rtd) in Abuja,  Ms Usman said the synergy on SW would boost government revenue and promote Public Private Participation through the attraction of local and Foreign Direct Investment ( FDI).

    The government, she said, was aware of its responsibilities to create the enabling business environment to realise  the objective.

    The Federal Government, Ms Usman said, was determined to make the ports efficient, safe, secure, productive and eco-friendly in their operations be they  logistics or finance.

    NPA and Customs, she said, were the two  arrow head agencies driving the logistic and financial portals  on behalf of the government and that the duo have the responsibility to synergise and build up a common industry culture around the ports to achieving the right level in trade facilitation.

  • We’ll free ports of gridlock, says boss

    We’ll free ports of gridlock, says boss

    •Authority to partner The Nation on reforms

    Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director Ms Hadiza Balla Usman has emphasised her team’s determination to ensure that the ports are run in line with international best practices by focusing on the perennial gridlock, especially in Apapa, caused by poor access roads.

    She said the truck holding bay opposite Tin-Can Island Port, Lagos would be made functional for the harbour to become leader in Africa.

    Ms Usman spoke when the Chairman, Editorial Board of The Nation, Mr. Sam Omatseye and his delegation visited her office to brief the NPA management on a conference the newspaper organisation and others are planning.

    The conference, with the theme: “Making Nigerian Sea Ports World Class”, is slated for March 30 at the Civic Centre, Lagos.

    She said the NPA would partner The Nation to fast-track ports’ reforms and boost government revenue.

    The NPA managing director said her team was focusing on how to make the ports the best in the maritime world.

    Ms Usman added that the NPA would pursue the core values of efficiency, customer and stakeholders’ satisfaction, safety and security of port users.

    She pledged her team’s determination to promote accountability, transparency, equity and facilitate trade in line with international best practices.

    The agency, according to her, will collaborate with The Nation and other stakeholders to explore strategies to enthrone 24 hours cargo clearance from the ports through rapid infrastructural growth, reduction in cargo and vessel dwell time, zero-tolerance for corruption and associated vices.

    She said her team would make the ports the hub of maritime business in West and Central African sub-regions to generate more revenue for the government.

    “Let me assure you that NPA will support you to organise this conference because your paper is the best. The Nation is our newspaper. We have special interest in it and we are also proud of your reporter covering the maritime beat. Most of the time, I read his report because of his in-depth investigation. I will give a keynote address as you requested and by the grace of God, we shall all be there,” Ms Usman said.

    NPA, she added, will achieve optimum performance and improved port services capable of attracting higher vessel patronage, translating into more revenue for the Federal Government and the nation.

    Omatseye told Ms Usman The Nation, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Transportation and Epsilon Limited, are organising the port reform conference to bring together agencies connected with ports to facilitate trade, enthrone seamless operations and boost revenue.

    The conference, Omatseye added, is being anchored on an acceptable template and at the instance of the Federal Ministry of Transportation and The Nation.

    The conference, he said, will cover most of the core responsibilities of the NPA, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC), the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), terminal operators, stakeholders and other port users.

    Omatseye told the NPA boss there was need for the agency as the landlord, to lead other parastatals and operators in harnessing the potential of the nation’s seaports by promoting transparency, synergy and trade facilitation to make the port a hub in the West and Central African sub-region.