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NPA denies N713bn fraud allegation

By on June 17, 2014

The Nigerian Ports Authority has denied an allegation that it failed to remit N713bn into the Federation Account since 2009.

A statement by the Assistant General Manager Public Affairs, NPA, Mr. Musa Iliya, dismissed the allegation by the National Conference Committee on Public Finance as untrue.

For allegedly not remitting the amount into the Federation Account, the committee had accused the NPA of contravening Section 162 of the Constitution.

But in its reaction, the NPA said the Constitution allowed it to deal with all operating expenses from its revenue before remitting the surplus to the Federation Account.

The statement read in part, “Ordinarily, the management would not have reacted to this misinformation but considering the misperception it may cause amongst the wider public, we are constrained to put the records straight.

“The NPA, established by the Nigerian Ports Authority Act, Cap N126 LFN, 2004, has the power to construct, equip, operate and provide seaport services to the general public.

“Essentially, the NPA is to be the commercial arm of the government, which like any other business, makes profit before remitting its operating surplus to the government, being the owner.

“In pursuance of the above, the NPA was given financial autonomy under Sections 13 and 14 of the Ports Act to apply its revenue towards carrying out the operations, development of ports and purchasing of equipment before remitting the surplus to government.”

The NPA added that Section 15 allowed it to apply its surplus revenues for the development of the ports.

It said only the revenue surpluses were remitted after meeting all operational, maintenance, development and administrative costs as appropriated by the National Assembly under Section 81 of the Constitution in each year.

The NPA said, “As a global tradition, the port industry must conform to outlined safety and operating standards. Hence, the need to ensure that all operating expenses are undertaken before surpluses are determined and remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

“The retention of our revenue as provided for by the law has enabled the NPA to successfully execute its mandate as enunciated in the Federal Government’s port reform. This has resulted in the growth of the general cargo handling capacity in the nation’s sea ports as evident between 2006 and 2012 from 46,150,518 metric tonnes to 76,855,75MT.

“In addition to that, the NPA has embarked on massive capital intensive projects in the areas of improved navigational safety, port infrastructure and information technology. The amount spent on these projects to get the system going is colossal and deserves timely interventions as desired by the financial autonomy accorded to the NPA in the existing law.”

 

 

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