Nigerian Senate has mandated its Committee on Marine Transport to investigate a N3billion fraud allegation against the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). The allegations were raised on Wednesday in a Point of Order moved by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, the lawmaker representing Delta Central Senatorial District.
Omo-Agege said the alleged fraud was in connection with the activities of the Joint Venture Enterprises of the NPA, namely, the Lagos Channel Management, the Bonny Channel Company, and the Calabar Channel Management Company Limited.
He noted that both the Lagos Channel Management and the Bonny Channel Company were established in August 2005 for the management and routine maintenance dredging of Lagos and Bonny navigation channels, while the Calabar Channel Management Company Limited was established for the management and capital dredging of the Calabar channel.
Senator Omo-Agege highlighted that although the aforementioned companies were conceived to operate a public-private partnership (PPP) model and to reduce financial burden on the Federal Government, the NPA has expended over $1billion $2billion on the Lagos Channel Management and the Bonny Channel Company respectively from 2005 till date.
The lawmaker lamented that despite the huge expenditure, significant dredging is yet to commence on the Calabar channel, notwithstanding that the Calabar channel is an economic gateway to the North Central and North East geo-political zones of the country.
He stated that in spite of the financial commitments of the NPA to some of its joint ventures, empirical facts, evidence and data — including current Admiralty Charts from Lloyds of London — show that the purported claims of daily maintenance dredging are questionable.
“This is because the depth profiles of the Lagos and Bonny channels have remained at the same height of 13 meters for over 11 years,” Omo-Agege said.
“Furthermore, in the 2017 Budget of the NPA, the Lagos Channel Management and the Bonny Channel Company have requested for N23 billion and N20 billion respectively.”
As a consequence, the Senate then mandated its Committee on Marine Transport to investigate the dredging activities, books, and records of the Nigerian Ports Authority; the Lagos Channel Management Limited; the Bonny Channel Company Limited; and the Calabar Channel Management Company Limited, which was established for the management and capital dredging of the Calabar channel.
In his remark, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, directed that the Marine Transport Committee should report back to plenary in a week. Reacting to the probe, NPA Principal Manager, Public Affairs, in a statement said that the Senate’s decision was in line with the determination of the authority to open its books for probity at all times.
He noted that the present management of NPA had on assumption of duties, identified the challenge and taken immediate steps to address the situation. Nasiru said NPA was ready to collaborate with other agencies of government to ensure transparency in the execution of government business and work in the best interest of Nigeria always.
The spokesman said as part of the processes, an advertisement for Expression of Interests for “Consultancy Services for Dredging and Channel Design Optimisation Studies was placed in newspapers in October 2016.
He said so far, three companies had been pre-qualified for the assignment with a Request For Proposals (RFP) already issued toward the conclusion of the process for the award of contracts.
“The studies, when completed, will provide an accurate information on the depth and siltation levels of the channels and ultimately, guide the NPA in its next line of immediate and future actions on the channels.”
Nasiru added that the studies would additionally provide a comprehensive review of the dredging practices currently adopted for the management of the Bonny/Port Harcourt Channel, the Calabar Channel and Lagos Channel.
