The face-off between the Nigerian
Ports Authority (NPA) and Intels Nigeria Limited (Intels), a company co-owned
by former vice president, Atiku Abubakar is not over yet.
This is as the NPA has handed a
two-week ultimatum to the company to remit an outstanding $48 million that
ought to have been paid into the agency’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) in
2017.
Intels, a logistics and
facilities services provider in the maritime and oil and gas sectors, was
co-founded by Gabriele Volpi, an Italian national, and former vice-president,
Atiku Abubakar.
Atiku has since sold down most of
his interest in the company to the former Lagos State governor and APC national
leader Bola Tinubu.
Speaking yesterday during an
interview with CNBC Africa, Managing Director of NPA, Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman,
said Intels’ notice of termination would stand if the company fails to settle
its debt.
“I am giving Intels a possible
two-week window to provide payment, two weeks from now, following which the
notice of termination will not be withdrawn,” she said.
“One of the issues we have had
with Intels is their non-compliance with the TSA. As you are aware, the
Nigerian government instituted the treasury single account which is the account
that all revenues of government need to be paid into.
“Intels collects revenue on
behalf of the Nigeria Ports Authority and had refused to comply with TSA and
kept retaining those revenues in their coffers.
“So we insisted that they must
comply, no company is above the laws of the country and we went through the
whole process,” she was quoted to have said in the interview.
She spoke further on what caused
the disagreement between the maritime agency and the logistics firm, accusing
the company of failing to comply with the ground rules.
“I think it’s important for all
entities operating in an environment to adhere to the rules and regulations,”
she said.
“What we seek to ensure is with
you have a level playing field and you must comply to regulations. At no point
was Nigeria Ports Authority not going to remit their own portion of the
revenues.
“All other third-party agreements
that we have in the Nigerian Ports Authority have a similar structure, so why
should Intels feel it can operate outside of the law? The other companies are
complying, why don’t you comply?” She added.
Last year, Nigerian government
directed the NPA to terminate the boats pilotage monitoring and supervision
agreement that the agency has with Intels Nigeria Limited.
Attorney General of the
Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami (SAN), in a
letter dated September 27, 2017 Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman, said that the agreement,
which has allowed Intels to receive revenue on behalf of NPA for 17 years,
violates the Nigerian Constitution, especially in view of the implementation of
the TSA.
Malami said the agreement, which
allowed Intels to receive revenue on behalf of NPA for 17 years, violated
Sections 80(1) and 162(1) and (10) of the constitution.
The AGF wondered if the
management of the NPA and Intels did not take cognisance of the relevant
provisions when negotiating the agreement in 2010.
But Intels insisted that it had
settled the dispute with NPA and was awaiting the AGF’s clearance.
The firm admitted the infractions
and apologised for its initial rejection of the regulator’s directive on the
TSA, stating its readiness to comply.
In its apology, dated October 25,
2017, Intels, through one of its directors, Silvano Bellinato, suggested that
an agreement that would ensure “mutual business satisfaction” be signed between
the company and NPA.
Bellinato also sought assurances
that Intels’ share of collected revenues would always be remitted to it in good
time after the TSA account with the CBN is credited.
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