Nation
NPA Clears Air On $852.93m , N1.8bn Audit Query
The Nigerian Port Authority ( NPA) , yesterday cleared itself of allegations of under remittance of $852million and N1.8billion to the Federation Account before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts.
The Office of Auditor General for the Federation had in the 2019 audit report , alleged that NPA did not collect remittances from terminal operators which amounted to $852million and N1.8billion .
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts ,had Tuesday on the strength of the audit directed the agency’s Managing Director , Mohammed Bello Koko and other management staff , to appear before it unfailingly within 48hours .
In response to the committee’s directive , the Managing Director of NPA explained to the committee that the lump sums of $852million and N1.8billion , raised in the queries , were accumulation of unremittances from private port operators who came on board through 2006 concession agreement .
Faulty concession agreements he explained , signed with the private operators by the Federal Government in 2006 , largely accounted for the unremittances NPA is being held responsible for.
His words “ The $852milliion and N1.8billion unremittance by private operators to NPA , are largely caused by faulty concession agreements the Federal Government signed with them in 2006 when the ports were concessioned .
“ The concession agreements were faulty in the sense that some of the operators are facing encumbrances in different ways to cover the space concessioned for them which also encumbered them to remit what are due from them to NPA.
“ The encumberances in question range from inaccessibility of some portions of areas leased, by concessionaire , communal encumbrance and volume change or turnage amount”,
The Managing Director also noted hat federal government that signed the concession agreement with the private operators , even contributed to encumberances faced by the concessionaires at the beginning by not removing structures that belong to it from the right of way of the affected concessionaires .
“ Out of the $852million , going by our in – house assessment, $504million are accumulated unremitted levies due to encumbered areas .
“ However , we have been able to $232.2million and N269.4million from the N1.8billiion .
“ “ We have gotten consultancy from the World Bank for review of the concession agreements which would be free from any form of encumberances “, he said.
On the second query of outstanding debts of $67.45million and N32.266billion , the NPA boss told the committee members that the debts were not incurred by NPA but the defunct Nigerian Shippers Councils whose debtors are now longer traceable .
The Chairman of the Committee , Senator Aliyu Wadada in his remarks , indicated the need to identify the said bad debts and mandated he NPA boss to furnish the committee with their financial statement and way out for government to write off the legacy debts .
By: Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi, Abuja
Nation
Rumuaholu Community Denies Land Grabbing Allegations, Accuses Obio/Akpor Chairman of Interference in Land Dispute
The Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Peters Nwagor, has commended the orderly conduct of the ongoing 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination in the state and urged schools to sustain the standard.
Dr. Nwagor gave the commendation on Tuesday during a monitoring tour of selected secondary schools in Port Harcourt and environs where the WAEC exam is ongoing.
The commissioner, who was accompanied by directors and monitors from the Ministry of Education, said he was impressed with the peaceful atmosphere at the centres visited.
“The students conducted themselves properly and wrote their papers under conducive conditions. Invigilators and supervisors also performed their duties professionally,” he stated.
Nwagor noted that the Rivers State Government had invested heavily to ensure the smooth and credible conduct of the examination across the state
He urged candidates to reciprocate government’s effort by shunning all forms of examination malpractice and focusing on their studies.
“Government has done so much to ensure successful examinations in our schools. Students should take advantage of it by remaining focused,” the commissioner said.
While no case of malpractice was recorded in the centres inspected, Dr. Nwagor warned that any principal, teacher, invigilator, or official caught aiding malpractice would face strict sanctions in line with regulations.
He also commended school administrators, teachers, WAEC officials, and security personnel for upholding the integrity of the process.
Centres visited included County Grammar School, Ikwerre/Etche; Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Borokiri; Government Secondary School, Borokiri; and Pabod Model Secondary School.