Hadiza Bala Usman,
the suspended managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has
denied report that she disobeyed a court order on the operation of Integrated
Logistics Services Limited (Intels).
Usman made this known in a statement on Sunday, while
reacting to an online publication which alleged that she ignored court ruling
in order to frustrate NPA contractors.
The online publication only cited the contract between NPA
and Intels.
In the statement, Usman denied the allegation saying there was no court order at the expiration of the contract between Intels and NPA.
“For the sake of the
generality of Nigerians, whom I owe an explanation for whatever steps I take in
the service of the nation, I presents the truth of the INTELS story as
follows,” the statement read.
“Neither I nor the Nigerian Port Authority disobeyed any
court order in the matters involving INTELS or any other company for that
matter.
“As a corollary to this, there was no court order existing
at the time of the expiration of the boat pilotage contract between the NPA and
INTELS by on August 8, 2020. I should also state that this contract was not
terminated.”
Usman explained that Intels was engaged as managing agents
of the NPA for oil industry related activities in the compulsory pilotage
district within the exclusive economic zone of Nigeria.
She said the contract commenced in June 2007 with a review
of an extension of 10 years in 2011 to culminate in August 2020.
“The Authority had in 2017, served INTELS with a notice of
termination for its refusal to comply with the Treasury Single Account policy
of the Federal Government,” the statement added.
“Following the receipt of the termination notice, the
company complied with the policy. A supplemental agreement was signed to
recognise the compliance to TSA and the notice of termination was accordingly
withdrawn.
“INTELS, alongside
other companies submitted bids to qualify for the tender in line with the
criteria spelled out in the public advert. INTELS violated one of the criteria
advertised for the tender process and was accordingly disqualified.”
‘INTELS INITIATES COURT ACTION TO STOP TENDER PROCESS’
Usman said Intels initiated a court action after it lost its
bid to secure a new boat pilotage contract.
“The tender process proceeded accordingly and the companies
that scored the highest were prequalified. The outcome of the transparent
tender process was forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Transportation for
onward transmission to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for its
consideration.
“Upon
disqualification from the tender process, INTELS initiated a court action to
prevent the Authority from proceeding with the tender process citing a debt
owed one of one their sister companies, Deep Offshore Nigerian Ltd for the
development of Onne 4B.
“This is an amortization project which payment should be
derived from the revenue raised from this service. There was no provision in
the contract to the effect that INTELS must be the company carrying out the
boat pilotage contract, but they have continued to hold the country to ransom
for through this court case.
“It should also be noted that despite court case, the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is currently working on
recovering all Federal Government funds that the INTELS have withheld over the
years.
“All the NPA tried to do was to see that INTELS and indeed
no other business entity contravenes the laws of the country or the provisions
of their contract.”
SUSPENSION APPROVAL AND AMAECHI’S 11-MEMBER PANEL
President Muhammadu Buhari had approved Usman’s
suspension on May 5 following a recommendation by Rotimi Amaechi, minister
of transportation.
Usman was initially accused of failing to remit the
operating surplus of NPA to the consolidated revenue fund (CFR) — an
allegation she denied.
Amaechi already inaugurated an 11-member investigative
panel to probe NPA over all contracts awarded since 2016 when Usman became
managing director.
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