Nigeria lost over USD200 million (more than N200 billion) to the termination of Intels’ pilotage service contract by former Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, according to officials.
Recall that Hadiza Bala Usman launched an unrelenting offensive against the country’s major maritime operator and oil and gas logistics giant during her tenure as NPA Managing Director, leading to the controversial termination of its pilotage service contract and attendant loss of many jobs.
Current NPA Managing Director, Mohammed Bello Koko, said weekend that the withdrawal of the management of pilotage services from Intels cost the Federal Government about USD86 million in 2020, USD110 million in 2021 and a yet to be determined sum in 2022 and 2023.
Koko said the huge sum was lost due to the inability of NPA to effectively carry the role performed by Intels.
“An analysis of its impact on the authority’s revenue showed a sharp decline from $216 million and $209 million in 2014 and 2015 respectively under Intels agency to $130m and $99m in 2020 and 2021 after taking over by NPA. The situation in 2023 is even worse as the collection up to June 2023 was only $55.3m,” Bello Koko said.
Recall that NPA recently restored the pilotage service contract to Intels, 30 months after Bala Usman was sacked as its Managing Director.
In a memo titled “Reinstatement of INTELS Nigeria Limited as the authority’s service boat operations monitoring provider in the pilotage district” signed by the Port Manager of Lagos Port Complex, Charles Okaga, NPA said that it had extended the contract it entered with the company.
Giving an update on the development, NPA assured Nigerians that the move would increase revenue generation, stating that it was unhappy about the needless loss of revenue as a result of the issue.
“The Federal Government would earn over $500 million taking into consideration the interest waiver of $193 million, the reduction in the interest rate on the outstanding debt from six-month London Interbank Offer Rate + 6.5 per cent to six-month Secured Overnight Financing Rate+ 3 per cent, the spread of the repayment of the debt over 15 years, with the first two years interest-free and the reduction in commission from 28 per cent to 24.5 per cent.
“It has become necessary to put the record straight for the benefit of the public and the generality of stakeholders in the port industry. This is also to avoid distortions and conjectures, which may arise because of wrong interpretation of the aforementioned letter,” NPA further explained.
An Abuja-based newspaper, in its latest editorial, called for sanctions for those whose “action or inaction” led Nigeria to lose the huge revenue in the face of dwindling resources and scarce foreign exchange.
“Why was the contract cancelled in the first place since it was clear that NPA lacked the competence to monitor and ensure there was no revenue loss? If NPA knew INTELS had the requisite competence to handle the contract and ensure the nation gets the needed revenue, why did it look the other way when the decision to withdraw the contract was taken?” the newspaper asked.
“In the days ahead, Nigerians will wait for both the NPA and all those connected with this loss, no matter how remote, to provide cogent explanation on what happened and why. In the meantime, we urge the authorities to urgently put in place concrete measures to forestall further loss of much-needed revenue,” it added.
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