NPA clarifies $852m unremitted fund at Senate inquiry

The Office of the Auditor General confronted the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) with an audit query regarding alleged shortcomings in remittance collection from terminal operators, amounting to $852 million and N1.8 billion, according to the 2019 audit report.

This issue was scrutinized during the Senate Committee on Public Accounts session, where the Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello Koko, and other management staff, addressed the allegations.

Koko clarified that the flagged sums were the result of accumulated unremitted payments by private port operators under the 2006 concession agreement.

He attributed these discrepancies to flawed concession agreements signed by the federal government.

Koko highlighted various issues, including encumbrances faced by operators in accessing leased areas, communal encumbrances, and changes in volume or turnage.

Emphasizing that these encumbrances obstructed operators from meeting their remittance obligations to the NPA, Koko stressed the government’s role in creating initial challenges by not clearing structures that belonged to the concessionaires.

Breaking down the figures, Koko revealed that out of the $852 million, $504 million were associated with encumbered areas.

He also disclosed that NPA managed to make payments of $232.2 million and N269.4 million from the outstanding N1.8 billion.

Koko outlined plans to engage the World Bank for a consultancy aimed at reviewing the concession agreements and seeking solutions to resolve encumbrance issues within these contracts.

Regarding a different query regarding unpaid debts totaling $67.45 million and N32.266 billion, Koko clarified that the defunct Nigerian Shippers Council, not NPA, was responsible for these debts, and the debtors are no longer traceable.

Senator Aliyu Wadada, Chair of the Committee, has requested that NPA provide their financial statement and proposed strategies for the government to consider writing off the debts.

SOURCE: FRCN