The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NPA

  • Terminal operators, others owe NPA N30b

    Terminal operators, others owe NPA N30b

    • Usman makes shocking discovery at Onne

    Terminal operators are owing the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) over N30 billion, The Nation has learnt.

    NPA’s Managing Director Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, sources said, was furious when she learnt that four terminal operators and two firms at Onne Port were owing the agency  $7,931,247 and N9,458, 785,726.

    The debt excludes  what the Nigerian  National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other terminal operators are owing the agency.

    Ms. Usman has directed NPA’s  accounts section to recover the debt so as to boost the nation’s revenue profile.

    During her visit to Onne, the NPA boss said agreements signed with the  operators and others would be reviewed, stressing that her administration would plug all loopholes to ensure transparency and accountability.

    She directed all firms  to collect their receipts after transactions, saying NPA would pay revenue generated to the Federal Government through the  Single Treasury Account (STA).

    Ms Usman also directed that a competitive tariff and pricing regime be introduced at all sea ports, saying NPA would ensure that operators complied with the agreements they had with the government.

    She urged the debtors to pay up, or face sanction, saying she was not happy with the neglect of the quay apron by some operators.

    Ms Usman accused some of the operators of violating the concession agreement they signed with the government at Onne Port, threatening to take action if one of them fails to fix the collapsed Berth 8 section of the terminal.

    A senior Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF) official told The Nation that the debts of three concessionaires on lease and throughput fees amounted to  $1,56 million.

    NPA, the official said, would double its revenue next year if  operators complied with the agreement they signed.

    Many of the companies, including some operators, it was learnt, were contesting the NPA’s right to charge Value Added Tax (VAT) on services provided by the authority.

    Investigation revealed that the  amount withheld as VAT by the protesters is N705.8 million.

    NPA, it was learnt, is insisting  on collecting the VAT because  the Federal Inland Revenue Service may ask it to pay the tax, if the it fails to collect the money.

    Some of the challenges militating against revenue generation which Ms. Usman has taken steps to address, include:

    • the need to have a modern signal/control tower;
    • an efficient signal station to monitor ship and other activities in the ports;
    • going to court over NNPC and other terminal operators’ debts
    • provision of pilotage services by the NPA;
    • addressing Information Communication Technology ( ICT) challenges to improve service delivery through automation, hardware and speedy network;
    • provision of marine craft and operational vehicles;
    • removal of abandoned service boats, barges and canoes on the waterways/channel and
    • the provision of transit accommodation for pilots embarking and disembarking from vessels in Bonny Town .

  • NPA MD hails Buhari for Chibok girls’ release

    Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director Hadiza Bala Usman yesterday hailed President Muhammadu Buhari over the release of 21 Chibok girls.

    Speaking with selected reporters in her office, she lauded the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the negotiation that led to the release of the girls.

    Ms Usman, who shot to national prominence in 2014 when Boko Haram insurgents kidnapped 276 girls from their secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, said she was happy over the efforts put in place by the Federal Government to secure the release of some of the girls.

    She urged Nigerians to always appreciate the positive efforts put in place by the government to boost security and revamp the economy.

    The NPA boss said the release of the girls was a fulfillment of President Buhari’s and the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) campaign promise.

    Acknowledging that the release of the girls was a good indication that the country would overcome its security and other challenges, she urged the Federal Government not to relent in its efforts to secure the release of the remaining girls.

  • NPA partners Navy

    The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, has promised to improve on the relationship with the Nigerian Navy and others to secure the territorial waters.

    She spoke when the Flag Officer of the Western Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral Ferguson Dukas Bobai, visited her  in Lagos.

    She said NPA would sustain the relationship through information sharing, and called for the maximum use of the Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence (CCCI) of both organisations through the  deployment of its personnel to promote security and efficiency.

    Bobai solicited for a space at the Takwa Bay for the swift response to security challenges on the waterways.

    “This would enhance maximum safety and security of lives as well as cargo on Nigerian waters,” he said.

    Ms Usman promised that the NPA would work towards granting the Navy a  temporary berthing space pending the rehabilitation of its facilities.

    She urged the Naval authorities to immediately reconvene the committee set up to facilitate the dredging at the Takwa Bay turning base and proceed with the implementation of the earlier recommendations and positions as agreed.

    She pledged that NPA would offer financial support to the project via budgetary provision and allocation in the next fiscal year.

  • NPA eyes hub status for ports

    NPA eyes hub status for ports

    The Chairman, Governing Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr Emmanuel Olajide Adesoye, has pledged to elevate the nation’s sea ports to a hub status through zero tolerance for corruption and associated vices.

    The board, according to him, will also ensure that the ports are run in line with best practices by addressing the perennial gridlock in Apapa, caused by poor access roads. He added that the truck holding bay would be made functional for the ports to become the leader in Africa.

    Speaking with The Nation, Adesoye said the board would focuse on how to make the ports the best in the maritime world.

    NPA, he said, would pursue the core values of efficiency, customer and stakeholders’ satisfaction, safety and security of port users.

    The board, he pledged, would also promote accountability, transparency, equity and facilitate trade in line with international best practices.

    He said the board would collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Transportation to explore strategies to ensure the speedy passage of “the Ports and Harbour Bill” into law by the National Assembly.

    Adesoye said NPA would partner the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC), terminal operators and others in the formulation and implementation of policies.

    Apart from aspiring to elevate the NPA, Adesoye said the board would make the ports the hub of maritime business in West and Central African sub-regions to generate more revenue for the government.

    The NPA, he said, would achieve optimum performance and improved port services capable of attracting higher vessel patronage, which would translate into more revenue for the nation.

    He said:“The role of NPA in the industrialisation and growth of Nigeria’s economy, particularly at this period of economic recession, cannot be overemphasised when it is realised that the maritime sector is one of the most important revenue earners after oil.

    “It, therefore, behoves on our board in the performance of its oversight functions to come up with concrete policies capable of rejuvenating the Authority with a view to confronting and overcoming its present challenges.

    “Consequently, in transmitting the positive values of change in all ramifications, the board shall seek to ensure that the NPA is run in line with best practices comparable to the best ports in the maritime world.

    “In actualising this conviction, we shall seek expert advice both within and outside the agency.

    “The objective here is to ensure that within our tenure of service, the NPA is elevated to a higher pedestal that will make it the hub of maritime business in both the West and Central African sub-region.”

  • Agents task NPA, NIMASA boards on maritime reform

    Agents task NPA, NIMASA boards on maritime reform

    CUSTOMS agents have set agenda for the boards of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administartion and Safety Agency (NIMASA): they should revamp the sector to increase revenue generation.

    The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) urged the boards to find a lasting solution to the dilapidated Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos; ensure security at the ports and hasten cargo clearance.

    According to ANCLA President Olayiwola Shittu, the boards and other agencies have the responsibility to make Nigeria ports hubs in the sub-region.

    He told The Nation that the board chairmen should prevail on the government to use part of the money generated from the ports monthly to fix the roads leading to the Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports.

    Mr Emmanuel Adesoye (NPA) and Maj-Gen. Jonathan Garba (NIMASA) alleged that the government had not done enough to provide basic infrastructure and tackle corruption at the ports. He urged the boards to devise strategies for increasing the tempo of activities at the ports.

    The ANLCA chief decried the deplorable state of the Lagos and Onne port roads, saying it was affecting cargo delivery, endangering workers’ lives and making things difficult for the people.

    Shittu urged the boards to seek explanation on what the money realised from the ports is being used for.

    “Is it good to read on the pages of newspapers that despite the recession, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) generates over N50 billion monthly from the Lagos ports without any corresponding development of the roads that lead to the ports?” he queried.

    “Even the figure available to us showed that NPA, NIMASA, Customs, Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC), the Standards Organisation of Nieria (SON) and other agencies are generating several billions of naira monthly and we are sure that about 80 per cent of the amount is generated in Lagos. Why is the government finding it difficult to develop port infrastructure and make the  ports attractive for business and generate more money?” he asked.

    He said: “Telling the Federal Government alone, this time around, will not be enough. It is time to hold agencies that base their existence on the ports responsible and ask for their interventions to put pressure on the government to intervene, to save the lives of Nigerians suffering and dying on these roads every day.

    “Other operational challenges in the ports were discussed and we resolved that they should be aggregated in writing, for appropriate action, especially against some shipping companies, through their home countries.”

  • Agents task NPA, NIMASA boards on maritime reform

    Agents task NPA, NIMASA boards on maritime reform

    CUSTOMS agents have set agenda for the boards of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administartion and Safety Agency (NIMASA): they should revamp the sector to increase revenue generation.

    The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) urged the boards to find a lasting solution to the dilapidated Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos; ensure security at the ports and hasten cargo clearance.

    According to ANCLA President Olayiwola Shittu, the boards and other agencies have the responsibility to make Nigeria ports hubs in the sub-region.

    He told The Nation that the board chairmen should prevail on the government to use part of the money generated from the ports monthly to fix the roads leading to the Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports.

    Mr Emmanuel Adesoye (NPA) and Maj-Gen. Jonathan Garba (NIMASA) alleged that the government had not done enough to provide basic infrastructure and tackle corruption at the ports. He urged the boards to devise strategies for increasing the tempo of activities at the ports.

    The ANLCA chief decried the deplorable state of the Lagos and Onne port roads, saying it was affecting cargo delivery, endangering workers’ lives and making things difficult for the people.

    Shittu urged the boards to seek explanation on what the money realised from the ports is being used for.

    “Is it good to read on the pages of newspapers that despite the recession, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) generates over N50 billion monthly from the Lagos ports without any corresponding development of the roads that lead to the ports?” he queried.

    “Even the figure available to us showed that NPA, NIMASA, Customs, Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC), the Standards Organisation of Nieria (SON) and other agencies are generating several billions of naira monthly and we are sure that about 80 per cent of the amount is generated in Lagos. Why is the government finding it difficult to develop port infrastructure and make the  ports attractive for business and generate more money?” he asked.

    He said: “Telling the Federal Government alone, this time around, will not be enough. It is time to hold agencies that base their existence on the ports responsible and ask for their interventions to put pressure on the government to intervene, to save the lives of Nigerians suffering and dying on these roads every day.

    “Other operational challenges in the ports were discussed and we resolved that they should be aggregated in writing, for appropriate action, especially against some shipping companies, through their home countries.”

  • NPA redeploys managers

    The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, has named new managers for the six major seaports across the country.

    Sources close to NPA told The Nation that only Umar Abubaar Garba was retained but he was redeployed from Delta to Rivers port.

    In a memo dated September 14, 2016, the Onne Port Manager Durowaiye Ayodele, was directed to report to the General Manager, Western Ports, Lagos “for duty”.

    The other managers, it was gathered, were redeployed to the NPA Headquarters in Lagos.

    They are Noah Mathew Alaba (Tin Can Island Port), Aisha Ali-Ibrahim (Lagos Port Complex,Apapa), Okeke Simeon Okeke (Delta Port), Alhassan Ismaila Abubakar (Onne Port) and  Olufunmilayo Olotu (Calabar Port).

    The former Calabar Port Manager,  Ogundele Oluseyi, moves to Eastern Ports as Assistant General Manager (AGM), Utilities.The former Tin Can Island Port Manager, Babatunde Longe, moves to NPA Headquarters as AGM, Operations.

    The former manager, Lagos Port Complex (LPC), Apapa, Ezeoke Eunice Ngozi, was redeployed to Western Ports as AGM, Operations. The former Rivers Port manger, Abdulrahman Lamin, was moved to NPA headquarters as AGM, Commercial.

  • NPA wasted $10b revenue, claims ministry official

    NPA wasted $10b revenue, claims ministry official

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) generated about $10 billion from the Lagos ports between 2006 and last year without anything to show for it, it has been learnt.

    A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF) told The Nation that the revenue excluded the over N150 billion collected from the Lagos Port Complex (LPC) and Tin-Can Island Port.

    The official lamented that there was nothing to show for the “huge proceeds” in terms of infrastructure development at the ports.

    He urged the Federal Government to rehabilitate the roads and resolve other challenges to make the ports more attractive and competitive.

    The NPA, the official said, generated over $147 million in 2006 and collected over $105 million. From 2007 to 2009, he said, NPA generated $979,010,266 and collected $689,683,545.

    According to findings, NPA made $852,623,584 from 2010 to 2012 and collected $816,184,072 from the Lagos ports.

    At the LPC and Tin-Can Island Port,  NPA generated $311,838,719 and collected $351,153,963 in 2013; $852,269,943 in 2014, while  $754,362,679 was remitted to its domiciliary account.

    To generate more revenue, the official urged the NPA management to plug all loopholes and embark on programmes that will make the ports more effective and efficient.

    According to him, the government would realise its dream of boosting the economy and creating jobs if the loopholes are plugged.

    The official said the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, must compel the NPA to fashion out a strategy to increase its revenue.

    The NPA, the official said, needs to ensure that the terminal operators boost their operations to generate more funds.

    The ports, he said, must be turned into an enterprise that will yield more revenue for government through improved vessel calls and enhanced volume of cargoes coming into the country.

    “Things are expected to look upward, with the automation of NPA’s operations and its adoption of electronic system. Under its current arrangement, it is expected that revenue leakages would be blocked and operational revenue improved.

    “We hope the management of the agency will be able to track where the revenue is leaking and make meaningful contributions to the government purse.

    “What the NPA needs now is the trade facilitation role of other government agencies. There is need for the government to ensure that the Customs and other agencies complement the NPA to boost government revenue,” the official said.

  • NPA boss finds multi-billion naira equipment abandoned

    NPA boss finds multi-billion naira equipment abandoned

    Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director Ms Hadiza Bala Usman has stumbled on equipment worth billions of naira allegedly abandoned at the Continental Shipyard in Apapa, Lagos.

    Ms Usman made the discovery when she visited the Lagos ports. Some of the equipment were allegedly abandoned by NPA when the ports were conces-sioned in 2006; others were said to have been abandoned in 2010.

    The abandoned equipment include the multi-million dollar floating dock, the slipway,  two pilot cutters and vital shipping equipment.

    The floating dock, it was gathered, could provide over 2,000 jobs; the slipway and the others could  provide about 2,500 jobs.

    A senior NPA official said: “The floating dock has not been operational since 2010. The then management said pump and valve malfunctioning was the the reason the 6,000 tonnes floating dock could not pass its routine test of submerging and emerging.

    “The routine test is usually carried out on two major occasions on the dock, namely after routine maintenance and or repairs or before lifting of ship for repairs, inspection or maintenance.

    “NPA Floating Dock is a watertight structure designed to submerge sufficiently, by admission of water into its pontoon tanks to admit a vessel. The tanks are then pumped out, the dock and vessel will then rise until the latter is clear entirely of the water.

    “In the course of restoring the emergence of the Floating Dock, one of its securing pins to the mooring dolphin snapped off and the dock generated momentum under the influence of hydro dynamic pressure caused by flood tides. This in turn caused the second pin to snap and the dock drifted under tidal influence and went to beach opposite Waziri jetty.’’

    The official alleged that past NPA management did not adopt measures for the floating dock’s use.

    “Despite that the contract for the repair of the floating dock was awarded by the past management of the NPA and a huge amount of money spent on it, we later discovered that there was no blockage of all the possible avenues that water can enter the engine and pump rooms of the dock as well as the closure of all, in and outlet valves of the dock and there was no diving inspection of the dock to identify any existing holes and malfunctioning valves.

    “What we want the new management to do is to lead the way on how the multi-million dollar floating dock and the slipway can be restored to generate more revenue and employ many Nigerians,” the official said.

  • APC hails Buhari for appointing Ekiti man NPA chair

    APC hails Buhari for appointing Ekiti man NPA chair

    Ekiti State All Progressives Congress (APC) has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing an indigene of the state, Emmanuel Olajide Adesoye, as the chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

    The party lauded the President “for recognising an Ekiti man as having the qualities to lead a sensitive organisation such as NPA, noting that the appointee got the position by integrity, honest and amiable disposition to workers at his previous place of work, Mobil Producing Unlimited.

    In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the APC expressed confidence that Adesoye, who hails from Ikoro Ekiti, will be a worthy ambassador of the state and demonstrate the needed brilliance to turn things around at NPA.

    He said: “As NPA is a sensitive  agency that requires honesty to manage, Adesoye’s appointment is therefore a vote for Ekiti as homeland for people of integrity, particularly at a time Buhari is cleaning up the system by appointing credible and honest Nigerians to man sensitive sources of revenue to rebuild Nigeria from the ruins the country was left by the last administration.

    “This appointment complements that of another honest Nigerian, Col. Hameed Ali, who is leading another sensitive revenue-spinning source, the Nigeria Customs, as Comptroller-General at the time the country needs honest Nigerians to lead sensitive sources of revenue as oil prices crash in international market, fuelling exchange rate crisis with dire consequences on the living conditions of Nigerians.”

    “Your hard work, honesty, integrity and amiable disposition to workers at Mobil, where you demonstrated rare Ekiti quality, no doubt prepared you for this onerous assignment. ”

    Olatunbosun added: “We trust that you will once again fly Ekiti colour in its true form and we assure you of our support at the home-front with prayers and we are ready to offer assistance in any area you may require such.”