The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA); Hadiza Bala Usman has explained how the nation has been losing hundreds of billions of Naira to Ocean Marine Services Limited (OMSL) in the contract for the Secured Anchorage Area (SAA) in Lagos, which according to the agency necessitated the recent termination of the contract.
Recall that both the NPA and Messrs OMSL have been at loggerhead since the contract was terminated, even as the National Assembly is currently probing the termination.
Giving reasons for the termination of the contract, the NPA boss at an event in Lagos last week said it is the responsibility of the federal government to provide security for anybody doing business in the country, while assuring that the government has been working very hard to secure the waters.
Usman who was represented at the event by the Executive Director Marine and Operations, Dr. Sokonte Davies said every ship that calls at the SAA pays a minimum of $2500 for the first day and pays between $1500-2000 every other day.
Sokonte however queried the rationale of the agreement on the SAA.
“The federal government is taking it as a responsibility to provides security. You see anybody that is doing business, you are coming to the Nigerian’s territorial waters to do business you don’t need to pay to be secured it is already given it is an international practice”
“So that is why we don’t know what type of agreement the Nigerian Navy will have with some people to provide security and people pay to be secured”
“It was like a rumor to so many people but it is true, some of you should be aware that every vessel that calls on the Nigerian waters that stays in that so called SAA pays $2500 for the first day and every other day they pay within $1500-2000 every day”
“And just multiply that with the number of years they have operated and the number of vessels that have called you will find out that we are talking about hundreds of billions of Naira, where do these monies go to?”
“So where has this happened, where is it happening, who authorized it, these are the questions we are asking. And like you know when these payments are made they are passed down to the nd users”
“And the problem is that at every point rent is taken because if they pay $2500 they will get income from it. So what will be passed on finally on the consumer will be more than that before it gets to the end users it may be more than $10000. Because at every step someone takes profit and that is business. Every payment is an investment and it will come with a return”
“And the problem is that at every point rent is taken because if they pay $2500 they will get income from it. So what will be passed on finally on the consumer will be more than that before it gets to the end users it may be more than $10000. Because at every step someone takes profit and that is business. Every payment is an investment and it will come with a return”
The money they are paying, who takes it, where does it go to? It does not come to NPA, the national assembly is doing a probe on the issue both in Senate and House of Representatives, the minister of transportation has also called for a meeting to find out, how did this happen.
According to him, “Where has this happened, where is it happening, who authorized it, these are the questions we are asking. And like you know when these payments are made they are passed down to the end users”
“So these are issues and as an economist I know what they call multiplier effect. So these things must stop and the moment it stops you will begin to see the effect on doing business and for the fact there is a SAA and people know the capacity”, he concluded.
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