Reps question ministers on Tuesday on port concessions
The Blue Economy Minister Gboyega Oyetola and his Transportation counterpart Saidu Alkali have been called before the House of Representatives on the purported illegal concession of some port facilities.
The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprise, Mamman Ahmadu, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, Mohammed Bello Koko, and the Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Michael Ohiani, are among those who have been invited to testify.
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The summons was delivered on Tuesday in Abuja during a meeting with the operators of seaport terminals by Ibrahim Hamisu (APC, Kaduna), the chairman of the House Committee on Privatization and Commercialization.
The legislator bemoaned the lack of presence from the highest ranking government officials to clarify their involvement in the maritime terminal concession.
The committee members voiced their discontent with the purportedly dubious way in which the concession procedure was overseen, allowing five companies to continue operations for five years without renewal and causing the Federal Government to lose a significant amount of money.
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“They (ministers) have to come before the committee on March 12,” he declared. Additionally, we want to reassure you that this committee will work tirelessly to see that this matter is resolved. To that end, please provide the committee with all pertinent documentation via the Secretariat by Friday.
He informed the port stakeholders that one of the main goals of this administration is to encourage investments into our vital port infrastructure, which is why they were asked to the conference to “discuss how best to address this prolonged renewal process.”
“From the brief we received from the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies involved in the process as well as the affected parties,” he stated. We are aware that as of right now, the negotiated supplemental agreements for the individual terminals still need to be executed in order to complete the process, which began more than five years ago.
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For this reason, we extended an invitation to all parties involved to collaborate in order to swiftly resolve this issue in the best interests of the country.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Hamisu made an argument to reporters, saying that it was necessary to find out why the listed firms continued to operate without a concession agreement renewal.
Five of the seaport terminals that were awarded on concession have since expired. There are individuals from Lagos and Port Harcourt. They were attempting to ensure that in 2021 their approvals would be renewed.
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They were not given this renewal for some reason, but they have continued to operate ever since. Therefore, we decided it was appropriate to double check and identify the issue.
We made the decision to invite them along with all the relevant parties, including the Ministry of Transportation, the ICRC, the BPP, and the Ministry of Blue Economy. Sadly, only the operators of the maritime terminal are present despite their invitation. After our conversation, they have one week to schedule the appearance of the MD NPA, BPP, ICRC, and Minister of Blue Economy before this committee.
They are scheduled to show there by 10 AM on March 12 so that we may talk with them, identify the issue, and take appropriate measures to address it and find a long-term solution.
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“Port and Cargo Terminal, ENL Consortium Terminal C, ENL Consortium Terminal D, Josepdam Terminal, and AMS Terminal are the names of the seaport facilities that are impacted. He issued a warning, saying, “We want to look into and see what the issue is at the five terminals whose concession period has expired and they have been operating illegally since 2021. Whoever is in charge of this, we will deal with him.”
The chairman had previously ruled that the Ministers of Blue Economy and Transportation, among others, must unquestionably come before it on Tuesday of next week.
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