“The budget and expenditure of the Authority are subject to strict supervision of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, the Budget Office of the Federation as well as the comprehensive oversight of the National Assembly” Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has unequivocally refuted an online report in the social media that alleged of a multi-billion corruption going on at the authority.

The Agency in a statement  described the allegation as spurious and lacking credibility even as it explained that the budget and expenditure of the Authority are subject to strict supervision of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, the Budget Office of the Federation as well as the comprehensive oversight of the National Assembly making the allegation of misapplication of budgetary provisions impossible.

NPA clarified that the contract for dredging works at the Warri Escravos Channel, (hub of Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Operations), which became necessary because of the need to tackle the increasing siltation of the channel and forestall the international embarrassment and huge investment losses from shipping vessels running aground, followed followed laid down processes and procedure for emergency procurement as laid down in the Procurement Act, 2007, contrary to allegations in the report.

NPA further explained that the procurement of Marine crafts such as tugboats and pilot cutters was carried out in line with the provisions of the Procurement Act, 2007; adding that the process for this equipment was initiated and undertaken in response to the exigency of ensuring national energy security through the implementation of sale of crude oil in Naira to domestic refiners which involved intensive offshore operations.

The Agency as well said that  the allegation of documents being withheld for over a year is untenable, as the extant civil service guidelines governing the timeline for processing of official documents make it impossible.

NPA debunked allegations made in connection with expenditures at the authority’s London office as out rightly false as the dealings or transactions speculated in the report never took place.

Revenue/Staff Welfare

“The marked increase in revenue figures for 2024 was due to exchange rate gains, since the Authority’s are denominated in forex in line with global maritime best practice just as the promotion of employees, as well as the appointment of Assistant General Managers and General Managers were undertaken to address the age stagnation of personnel in the Authority. This is as the management followed due process as prescribed in the authority’s duly approved conditions of service” the Authority clarified.

NPA stated that revocation or otherwise of third-party contractual agreements of the Authority were in accordance with extant law as well as contractual agreements with all the concerned parties. Hence, the allegation of “staff morale being at rock bottom” falls flat in the face of reality.

“The current Management has to its credit, the clearing of all outstanding issues of employee stagnation and the conduct of promotion examinations in 2024. The management has received commendation from the two in-house labour unions for these reasons, so staff morale is at its peak currently.”

“To ensure the competitiveness of Nigerian Ports and grow vessel and cargo throughput, the authority recently secured Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval for the commencement of the port modernization programme, the statement said. This is as it advised the media to seek clarification of their reports from the authority, whose doors are open to constructive engagements and clarifications where necessary”

Managing Director of NPA, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho assures all stakeholders and the generality of Nigerians of his unwavering commitment to deepening the competitiveness of Nigerian ports through infrastructure and equipment renewal (which has commenced) as well process automation through the Port Community System (PCS) which  NPA has propelled to conclusive stages in readiness for the plug-in of relevant stakeholders as the implementation of the National Single Window (NSW) project of the Federal Government gains momentum.