The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NPA

  • Reps probe NPA for alleged financial iregularities

    The House of Representatives yesterday mandated its Committees on Ports, Harbours, Waterways and Privatisation to investigate alleged operational and financial irregularities by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

    The committees are to specifically probe the extent of the observance of all operations, obligations and remittances arising from agreements, understandings, contracts  and related financial relationships between of and between the NPA and its concessionaires/service providers with regard to their compliance with extant financial laws, circulars/regulations.

    The committees are to report back to the House within 12 weeks for further legislative action. The resolution of the House was sequel to the passage of a motion by a member, Linus Okorie on the need for such a probe.

  • NPA to promote SMEs

    The management of the Nigerian Ports Authority ( NPA)  has taken steps  to promote small and medium scale entrepreneurs and foreign investors in the country to boost the economy, its Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, has said.

    Speaking at the Kano International  Trade Fair last week, she said the authority sees entrepreneurship as an important engine of growth and would support those who have the capacity to develop and manage profitable businesses across the country.

    The theme of the trade fair is: “Attracting entrepreneurs and investors towards national economic growth.”

    The theme, she said, was appropriate because the country is going through ‘a turbulent’ economic recession and the Federal Government is encouraging every Nigerian to look ‘inward’ in a bid to create alternative ways of developing the economy apart from oil.

    The Federal Government, she added, has institutionalised policies geared towards attracting investors and focusing on the non-oil sector to encourage entrepreneurial participation to boost the nation’s depleting foreign reserves.

    Some small scale entrepreneurs who started small, Usman said, were assisted by the NPA to become big.

    NPA, Usman said, has also impacted positively on economic growth by assisting some notable entrepreneurs to expand their businesses and become major employers.

    Some of the beneficiaries of NPA’s gesture, she said, are  Otunba Obafemi Otudeko, Alhaji Wahab Folawiyo, Dr Samuel Adedoyin and Alhaji Aliko Dangote who has factories at the ports.

    NPA, Ms Usman said, is playing a major role in facilitating the Federal Government’s policies aimed at encouraging entrepreneurs and attracting investors.

    This, she said, is evident with the presence of private terminal operators in the ports.

    The huge investment made by the terminal operators, she said, have led to greater efficiency in cargo handling, port operations and increase in government’s revenue.

    She urged small and medium scale entrepreneurs to tap into the low export tariffs and other opportunities provided by the Federal Government through the NPA to boost the economy.

  • Shippers, NPA to unveil single window at ports

    Shippers, NPA to unveil single window at ports

    To promote trade, the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) will introduce the much-awaited Single Window (SW) platform at the ports to achieve 48-hour cargo clearance next year, it was learnt.

    This is coming against the backdrop of a directive by the Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, to have a single window platform that will integrate all government agencies at the ports.

    “The adoption of the Single Window (SW) platform will strengthen the port industry by boosting efficiency and reducing cost and time which are the major objectives of port concession agreement signed by private terminal operators,” a senior official of the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF), who did not want to be named, said.

    SW is used by many countries to facilitate trade at their ports.

    The FMoF official said the adoption of SW would make Nigeria’s ports competitive in the international trade network.

    He urged the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to compel the Nigeria Customs Service and other agencies at the ports to key into the SW platform to facilitate trade and generate more revenue.

    He also urged the National Assembly to back SW with a law.

    The Federal Government, The Nation learnt, will generate additional $800 million annually from the ports and borders, if NSC and NPA introduce the platform.

    The amount that could be generated from the platform, the official said, made the NPA and the NSC to champion the introduction of the Single Window platform.

    The official identified sharp practices and charges for services not rendered as factors militating against the single window and 48-hour clearance, urging the ministers of Transport and Finance to address the problem.

    “We are aware that NPA and NSC are not happy over the past failure of 48-hour cargo clearance policy. Apart for the fact that the delays experienced in cargo clearance disrupted the production schedules of manufacturers as raw materials are not delivered in good time to their factories, they affected their revenue and were responsible for high level of corruption at the port as importers struggled to clear their cargoes under harsh conditions. This, again exacerbate inflation as goods were not quickly cleared from the port to meet relevant needs in the economy and that is why the need for the single window is imperative.

    Speaking with The Nation in his office on Friday, Belo said the single window is a laudable initiative, which a country like Nigeria ought to embrace to transform the ports.

    He said the platform would enhance trade competitiveness through improvement in import, export, transit procedures and information sharing system.

    The facility, he said, would ensure that there is a paperless Customs declaration, compliance and online approval.

    The current 100 per cent physical examination of goods, according to him, would be reduced and all government agencies at ports integrated.

    Bello added: “The single window facility will also need to be supported by legislation from the National Assembly.”

    “The National Single Window is the ultimate in port operation. But it must be multi-agencies integrated for it to be successful. The port is a transit point and our ports must be seen and used as such. That is why we have dry ports across the country to decongest the port and NPA as the landlord must have a say.”

    NPA’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Chief Michael Ajayi, said the Federal Government needed to have the political will to introduce a single window platform to reduce costs and increase the compliance level of importers and exporters.

    He said it was part of measures to be undertaken by the NPA to achieve the 48-hour cargo clearance early next year.

    “The benefits are immense, because on a micro level, it will boost the competitive advantage of our ports and its traders on the international markets while increasing government’s revenue, boost foreign direct investment, introduce simpler, faster clearance, and release processes,” he said.

    Government’s attention on the single window, Ajayi said, should be focused on the following:

    • reducing time and cost of doing business at ports;
    • simplification and automation of ports operations; and
    • reduction of the human interface and increased transparency among others.

  • NPA partners Miami port

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is partnering the port of Miami to boost the facilitation programme of the Federal Government.

    The US International Trade Coordinator at the Department of Regulatory and Economy Resources (RER), Mr. Desmond Alufohai, and the Director, Government and International Relations (GIR) for port of Miami, Ms. Debra Owens, who met with the  NPA’s Managing Director, Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman, said they were at the Authority to explore opportunities in the mineral resources and agricultural sectors of the country.

    The team expressed its readiness to assist in the development and modernisation of infrastructure at the nation’s ports.

    The delegation also spoke of its determination to partner with the NPA on compliance and efficient port system

    The group said it would also assist the country to boost the economy by harnessing the immense opportunities in the export of farm produce and mineral resources to America.

    Ms. Usman said assured them that the Federal Government was desirous of partnering the port of Miami on tourism.

    She discussed the need for technological transfer in the standardisation of farm produce, preservation and packaging to meet international standards.

    At the Executive Business Networking Seminar organised by NIMPORT in Lagos, Ms. Usman, who was represented by the General Manager, Public Affairs, Chief Michael Kayode Ajayi, said the government was making efforts to reposition the ports in line with global trends.

    She directed terminal operators to invest more in up-to-date equipment that will make the  ports competitive and efficient.

    Growth in trade volumes, she said, is essential to boost investment and efficiency, saying the development and upgrade of port infrastructure are imperative.

    NPA’s vision, Usman said, is to be the leading port in Africa. The NPA would review, in line with global best practices, the agreement the terminal operators entered into with the Federal Government before the ports were concessioned to them in 2006.

    She said growing container markets in countries in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific  informed the upgrade of the port infrastructure in the country,  with container handling automation put in place to handle large carriers with up to 18,000 teu.

    This, she said, became imperative because manually operated Ruber Tyre Gantry (RTG) was no longer suitable to handle huge number of containers from one vessel.

    NPA, she said, must lead in modernisation of equipment, and infrastructure to respond to global trends.

    She thanked the organisers of the seminar for their steadfastness and consistency that have gone a long way in fostering mutually-beneficial business relationship between the government and the private sector.

  • Senate probes FIRS, NPA, others for alleged fraud

    Senate probes FIRS, NPA, others for alleged fraud

    The Senate yesterday  resolved to probe alleged misuse, under remittance and other fraudulent practices in the collection and accounting of internally generated revenue (IGR) by revenue generating agencies.

    The probe, the Senate agreed, will cover all revenue generating agencies including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Customs Service and others. It will cover between 2012 and this year.

    The resolution followed the adoption of a motion which prayed the upper chamber to “constitute a high powered ad-hoc committee to investigate the alleged misuse, under remittance/non remittance and other fraudulent practices in the collection, accounting, remittance and expenditure of internally generated revenue by all revenue generating agencies of government from 2012 to 2016.”

    A six-member panel of investigators to be headed by Senator Solomon Adeola, (Lagos West) was mandated to submit its report to Senate in plenary in six weeks.

    Senator Adeola who sponsored the motion in his lead debate noted that Section 80,subsection 1-4 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria clearly stipulated that all revenue, moneys raised or received shall be paid as consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

    He further noted that the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 was enacted to ensure transparency, accountability and prevent corrupt practices in relation to public revenues and expenditure.

    The lawmaker said  he was aware that Section 21 -23 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 clearly limited  corporations, agencies and government-owned companies listed in the Schedule to the Act to the expenditure of only a fifth of its operating surplus with the balance paid to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government.

    He expressed concern that the Acting Chairman of Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Mr. Victor Muruako on November 8 this year “raised the alarm over leakages in revenue and remittances which he said has assumed alarming proportion in the last five years with some Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) producing two different statement of accounts in an attempt to manipulate their operating surpluses and losses.”

    Adeola said he was also aware that at “the last National Economic Council meeting, the Federal Government specifically accused  revenue generating agencies of raising over N1.5 trillion and expending over 90 per cent on recurrent expenditure mostly in paying bloated salaries and controversial allowances above Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Committee, monetisation of medical allowances, unapproved overseas travels, lavish training allowances and excessive personal loan approval all amounting to financial misconducts.

    He expressed worry that “these corporations, agencies and government-owned companies have over the years grossly violated the letters of the 1999 Constitution and the Fiscal Responsibility Act in relation to their revenue generation activities and expenditure.”

    Adeola said various audit queries against the agencies over the years further indicated possible mismanagement of public funds against the spirit of the constitution and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

    According to him, it is a matter of concern that in view of Federal Government dwindling revenue from the traditional crude oil sector and the on- going recession, “these government bodies continue to short change government of needed revenue through various illegal practices.”

  • NPA pensioners threaten to drag chairman to ICPC

    NPA pensioners threaten to drag chairman to ICPC

    Pensioners of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) yesterday threatened to drag its National Chairman, Mr. Ayo Bimite to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) over alleged illegal extortion of N2000 each for submission of Biometric Verification Number (BVN).

    They alleged that the Federal Government through NPA requested for BVN to update their bank accounts and to flush out ghost pensioners but did not ask them to pay N2000 each for BVN form.

    Some of the leaders of pensioners in the Southsouth, Southeast who visited the Port Harcourt office of Vintage Press Limited, the Publisher of The Nation newspapers   said they were joining 11,000 NPA pensioners nationwide to protest the  extortion.

    The Chairman, NPA Pensioners, Rivers State chapter, Mr. Chris Nnamene insisted that there was no time the Federal Government or the management of NPA ask pensioners to pay N2000 before they could submit their BVN.

    Contacted on phone, the National Chairman, Mr. Ayo Bimite said he was in Lagos and added that all allegations against him were not true.

    He said  he was going to report the matter to the appropriate authority and come back to Port Harcourt to brief our reporter on the true position on the matter.

  • Apapa gridlock worries NPA

    The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, has expressed concern over the Apapa gridlock, which hinders access to the ports.

    At a stakeholders’meeting in her office, she said the bad roads were killing trade facilitation  and affecting the delivery of cargoes.

    She said ports infrastructure must be revamped to revive to the economy.

    NPA, according to her, was not happy that measures adopted so far have not  yielded result. She promised what she called positive action soon.

    Usman said the quick rehabilitation of the road was her team’s  priority in salvaging the economy.

    Receiving the report on traffic decongestion of Apapa  and  environ,  she appealed to Dangote Construction Nig. Ltd and  Flour Mills Nig. Ltd to expedite action on reconstruction of Wharf road as the rain is almost over.

    Usman appealed to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, and members of the National Assembly to include the reconstruction of Creek Road linking Tin Can Island port in the 2017 budget. This, she said, would hasten the completion of the trailer park opposite the Tin-Can Port.

    She said the Federal Government, states and stakeholders should work together to find solution to the problem.

    She urged port users to submit to security checks at the gates leading to the ports and warned all unauthorised persons ports to stay off the ports or face sanctions.

    NPA, she said, would soon introduce measures that will make it impossible for those without genuine business to access the ports.

  • Stakeholders ask National Assembly strip NPA of regulatory function

    Stakeholders ask National Assembly strip NPA of regulatory function

    Stakeholders in the maritime sector Tuesday asked the National Assembly to pass into law the Ports and Harbour Bill to give legal backing to ports concessioning of 2006.

    he Act, they said, should also set performance benchmarks in the sector in accordance with global best practices.

    At a one- day Public Hearing on Amendment of National Inland Water Ways Authority Act (Amendment Bill, 2016 and Nigerian Ports Authority Act( Amendment) Bill, 2016, representatives of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Ports Terminal Operators, Nigerian Shipping Association and Maritime Advocacy Group were unanimous in their appeal to the National Assembly to take a look at the Ports and Harbour bill with a view to separating the regulation functions of the ports from the day to day functions of the Nigerian Ports Authority with a view to making the ports work more efficiently.

    The Public Hearing was organized by the Senate Committee on Marine Transport in Abuja.

    Chief Chidi Iluogu (SAN) who represented Nigerian Ports Terminal Operators said there was a need for the National Assembly to ensure that adequate frame work was in place for private sector participation and to promote efficiency based on principles of accountability, competition, fairness and transparency.

    Iluogu noted that it was only fair that functions are streamlined in the sector so as to reap the maximum benefits from the ports.

    He said,” It is a source of concern that many years after the concessioning the laws were still being awaited,” emphasizing that the nation’s ports must be empowered by law to work efficiently.

    A former Director of Post Privatization Monitoring at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Kashim Ibrahim Mohammed on his own noted that the transportation bills currently pending before the National Assembly will stem the tide of crisis bedeviling cargo handling and clearance at the nation’s ports.

    He insisted that for the ports to work optimally, the legislature must enact laws that will separate the functions of the Nigerian Ports Authority as the landlord from that of the regulation, urging the legislature to speed up the passage of the National Transport Commission Bill that was also before it.

    He said he anticipates a situation where the Nigerian Shippers Council will be adapted to transmute into the National Transportation Commission (NTC) since the Council had latent statutory functions that are similar to those of the proposed NTC.

    Senator Khairat Gwadabe who spoke on behalf of Maritime Advocacy Group said concessioning of ports was the modern trend globally as virtually all maritime nations have carried out one form of ports concession or the other but lamented that in Nigeria, the exercise was done without first putting the legal frame work in place.

    She urged the National Assembly to expedite action on the transport related bills pending before it so as to provide a level playing field that will see Nigeria rake in billions of naira in non-oil revenue from the ports.

    Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ahmed Rufai Sani said that he was optimistic that the country’s maritime sector would contribute tremendously to the nation’s economic recovery efforts.

    He said, “With the concessioning of the Port Terminals in 2006, the Nigerian Ports Authority is should no longer be an active participant in the day-to-day running of ports in Nigeria.”

    He added that the Senate will set new benchmarks and give the needed legal backing, adding that the proposed amendment would look towards the direction of huge revenue generation and creation of jobs.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, said that the country was losing huge sums of revenue through inefficiencies in the Nigerian maritime transport system.
    Saraki who was represented by the Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Philip Aduda, noted that the nation’s Marine sector has fallen short of meeting the needs of water transportation system and by extension, the nation was losing huge revenues.

    He said that the effective means of water transport was the creation of enabling environment for private participation, saying the 8th Senate was committed to making sure, Acts of NIWA and that of NPA were amended.

    “The 8th Senate will take time to create enabling laws for private sector participation and NIWA must be part of Nigeria’s agencies that generates revenues for economic growth,” he said.

  • NPA, firm sign MoU

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has signed a Memorandum of  Understanding (MoU) with the BudgiT Information Technology Network.

    The MoU was signed at the weekend. It will assist the NPA in promoting transparency and accountability in its operations.

    NPA ‘s Managing Director Ms Hadiza Balla Usman said the partnership became necessary for the development of an open budget system and implementation of a public data dissemination programme that would help the agency blocki revenue leakages.

    BudgiT has achieved feats in the space of socio-technological advocacy to open up public budgets for citizens’ comprehension.

    BudgiT started operation in 2011. With the MoU, NPA would be able to deliver on its mandate.

    The partnership will also assist NPA to  effectively manage its 24 terminals.

    The deal will instil a framework for transparent budget provisions for NPA, allow stakeholders to add their input, encourage participatory governance through  feedbacks, and create an enabling environment for foreign investment.

    “The collaboration will ensure key researches, industry policies and innovations are effectively communicated. It will also ensure that critical data are generated and made accessible for policy makers, private sector actors, stakeholders and the general public,” sources said.

  • Agents urge NPA to invest in ship repair facility

    Agents urge NPA to invest in ship repair facility

    The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority ( NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, has been urged to promote indigenous ship repair and dry docking.

    The President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, who made the call, said it was regretable that Nigeria had no functional ship repair and dry docking firms.

    Shittu said Nigeria accounted for over 70 per cent of the ships coming to Africa, stating that no fewer than 5,000 vessels called at the seaports last year. He said with modern repairs’ facilities, the sector could make billions of naira and also create jobs.

    Most of the vessels operating on Nigeria’s territorial waters, he said, go to neighbouring countries for dry docking and other routine maintenance at a huge cost to the country.

    Shittu bemoaned the rate of pollution of the waters and urged NPA to address illegal fishing and dumping of hazardous wastes in the waters.

    He said the dumping of toxic wastes in the waters and the increasing crimes on the coastline required the collaboration and commitment of the Federal Government, NPA and foreign partners to build a safe maritime sector.

    The ANLCA chief said security experts around Africa had developed theories to check the increasing dumping of hazardous wastes and the menace of piracy, adding that Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand had set the stage for cooperation between states, in information exchange and mobilisation of resources.

    He observed that insecurity on Africa’s waterways forced insurers to hike rates for ships passing through the region.

    Shittu said: “This significant maritime presence requires that ship repairs with dry docks of varying capacities be established to cope with the maintenance requirement of these vessels. Classification society rules and the good maintenance of ships require that ships be dry docked every 30 months on the average for routine surveys.

    “Special surveys are required at every alternative docking that is once in three years. As the age of a vessel increases, so does the amount of repair work needed. Aside from routine docking, vessels need to come to propeller and ship hull, or damaged caused by ropes or debris, and also mechanical breakdown.

    “Sadly, the ship repairs industry in Nigeria is under-developed and its potential untapped. This is largely because the government has not paid meaningful attention to this sector of the economy.

    “As a result of the shortage of adequate ship repair facilities, most of the vessels operating in Nigeria waters proceed to neighbouring countries for scheduled dry docking and other routine maintenance works. This is at huge financial loss to the country, while at the same time denying employment opportunities for Nigerians.’’

    Shittu said he supported the move by the Minister of Transport, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, to establish a new national shipping line. He, however, said there was a need for the government to support the private sector by providing an enabling environment.