To ensure further compliance to the recent Executive Order that was given recently by Acting President; Yemi Osinbajo, the Nigerian Ports Authourity (NPA) last Friday again met with members of the Implementation Committee on the Order.
At the end of the meeting, NPA’s managing director; Hadiza Bala Usman insisted that all government agencies assigned to operate at the nation's seaport are to carry out examination at the same time and at the same location in order to ensure smooth and seamless clearance of cargoes.
The meeting was held inside the board room of NPA Western ports in Apapa Lagos. In a statement released at the end of the meeting by Principal Manager Public Affairs of NPA, Ibrahim Nasiru, the NPA boss said that the directive is in conformity with the Executive Order 22.
With the take-off of this policy, all agencies of government that are required to operate and domicile in the ports would embark on their activities at designated locations only.
She stressed that there will be no other form of examination outside of that single interface. According to her, all agencies are expected to develop their backend office operations to streamline what they require to support any historical structure they may have.
She insisted that, "no agency should operate outside that interface at any of our port terminals”.
“All agencies of government that are not domiciled in the ports but are required to provide services should liaise with the lead agency on the modalities to perform their operations when they are required", she added.
The NPA Managing Director also reiterated that only the Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Immigration Service, Department of State Services (DSS) Port Health, Nigerian Maritime Administration & Safety Agency (NIMASA), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Nigerian Police are permitted to operate inside the port.
While appreciating members of the committee who are drawn from across stakeholders, she however insisted that apart from the authorised agencies, others must come in only when they are required.
The Managing Director expressed the gratitude of the management of the NPA to all government agencies and stakeholders who have collaborated to ensure the implementation of Executive Order 22 ahead of deadline.
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