The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC), has summoned the Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), and 18 terminal operators to appear before it and explain why the sum of $753million and 1.61 billion was not paid to the coffers of the Federal Government.
The summon followed the Committee’s deliberation on audit queries raised against the parties by the office of the Auditor-General to the Federation (AuGF) over the indebtedness of about 18 terminal operators doing business in the nation’s ports to the FG.
According to the query, the amounts form part of the debt identified by the AuGF as monies standing against the terminal operators as of December 31, 2019, in its report to the National Assembly. The terminal operators are those operating at the Lagos port complex, TinCan Island port, Delta port, Rivers port Complex, Onne Port Complex and Calabar Port Complex respectively.
The nation’s financial Police Chief, had, in his report on non-compliance/internal-control weaknesses issues on Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government for the year ended 31st December 2019, said terminal operators were indebted to the government to the tune of $852.094m and N1,878,560,509.57.
However, in its response sent to the Public Accounts Committee of the House, the NPA management confirmed that the original debt owed the Government by the port operators stood at $852,093,730.77 and N1,878,560,509.57. It said that out of the amount, $753 million and N1,609,150,534.32 have not been paid by the terminal operators. It was discovered that three terminal operators (Tincan Container Terminal Ltd with a debt of $4,043,004.90, Five Stars Logistics, with a debt of $33,091,958.06, and Port and Cargo Handling Company with no debt) listed among the debtor terminal operators were cancelled on the document alongside Port and Cargo Handling Ltd and Joseph Dam Port Services with the use of a pen, and it could not be ascertained why their names were cancelled.
Speaking on the high debts profile when he appeared before the Committee, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Port Authority, (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko, raised concern over the inability of the Agency to recover it despite the concerted efforts made towards recovering it even up to seeking the assistance of the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Responding, the Chairman of PAC, Oluwole Oke, promised that the National Assembly would “wade into the matter in ensuring the recovery of the debts to the last Kobo”.
He said “To start with, all the debtors would be summoned to appear before the Committee to ascertain their indebtedness to the Federal Government and to work out terms of payment”.
