NPA hits gold
… Achieves 72% budget implementation, remits N15bn into national coffers
From a dismal performance of 13 per cent the previous year, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stood tall before members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last Wednesday when Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, announced that the organisation’s budget implementation has risen to an impressive 71.92 per cent.
The Transport Minister made this known when he presented the Performance Evaluation Report of his Ministry and its parastatals to the FEC meeting chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Umar said that, in addition to the impressive budget performance, the NPA also remitted N15 billion into the Federation Account last year from a total sum of N128 billion it generated.
Budget performance of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) stood at 45.64 per cent, while the Agency remitted N309 million into the coffers of government.
The Transport Minister explained that about N49.6 billion capital expenditure was budgeted for the Ministry while 56 per cent, about N26 billion was accessed.
He said that agencies under the Ministry worked assiduously to ensure that they met the performance targets in line with the Performance Contract signed with the President.
Further, Umar said that the Ministry had intensified efforts towards rehabilitation of the rail tracks to standard gauge nationwide, while noting specifically that the rehabilitation of the rail tracks from Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, to Maiduguri, Borno State, will be completed by end of this year.
Also, he said that the Ministry was reviving most of the inland waterways transportation, citing Lagos and Wari in Delta State
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