[ad_1]
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has attributed the non-remittance of $852 million and N1.8 billion to defective concession agreements signed with the non-public operators by the Federal Authorities in 2006.
This was made recognized by the Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, on Thursday, whereas responding to the enquires by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts based mostly on the audit queries raised in opposition to the authority by the Workplace of the Auditor Common of the Federation.
Bello-Koko, who was directed to seem earlier than the senate committee alongside different administration workers, absolved the authority over these unremitted funds from non-public operators.
He defined to the committee that the lump sums of $852 million and N1.8 billion, raised within the queries, had been an accumulation of unremitted funds from non-public port operators who got here on board via 2006 concession settlement.
Concession agreements defective
- Bello-Koko stated, “The $852 million and N1.8 billion unremittance by non-public operators to NPA, are largely brought on by defective concession agreements the Federal Authorities signed with them in 2006 when the ports had been concessioned.
- “The concession agreements had been defective within the sense that among the operators are going through encumbrances in several methods to cowl the area concessioned for them which additionally encumbered them to remit what’s due from them to NPA.
- “The encumbrances in query vary from the inaccessibility of some parts of areas leased, by concessionaire, communal encumbrance and quantity change or turnage quantity.”
He instructed the committee members that the Federal Authorities that signed the concession settlement with the non-public operators even contributed to encumbrances confronted by the concessionaires in the beginning by not eradicating buildings that belonged to it from the proper of manner of the affected concessionaires.
Extra perception
Going additional, the NPA boss stated,
- “Out of the $852m, going by our in-house evaluation, $504m are amassed unremitted levies attributable to encumbered areas.
- “Nevertheless, now we have been in a position to get better $232.2m and N269.4m from the N1.8bn.
- “We have now gotten consultancy from the World Financial institution for assessment of the concession agreements which might be free from any type of encumbrances.’’
On the second question of excellent money owed of $ 67.45 million and N32.266bn, the NPA boss instructed the committee members that the money owed weren’t incurred by the NPA however by the defunct Nigerian Shippers Councils whose debtors are now not traceable.
What you must know
- The Workplace of the Auditor Common of the Federation had in its 2019 Audit Report, alleged that NPA failed to gather remittances which amounted to $852 million and N1.8 billion from terminal operators.
- This was a part of the 12 audit queries issued by the Workplace of the Auditor-Common for the Federation in opposition to the NPA based mostly on the authority’s monetary assertion for the 2019 monetary yr.
- The Senate Committee on Public Accounts, on the energy of the audit queries in opposition to NPA on Tuesday, directed its Managing Director, Mohammed Bello-Koko, and different administration workers, to seem earlier than it unfailingly inside 48 hours.
[ad_2]
Source link