The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has highlighted infrastructure decay and government policies as significant obstacles to recovering debts owed to the agency, clarifying its stance in response to the Senate Committee on Public Accounts’ probe.
In a statement released recently, the NPA addressed the $852,093,731.10 mentioned in the Auditor General of the Federation’s report, asserting that $232,354,156.43 of the sum has already been reclaimed.
During his appearance before the Committee, NPA Managing Director, Mohammed Bello-Koko, emphasized that the House Committee on Public Accounts in the 9th Assembly had thoroughly scrutinized the funds, giving the Authority a clean bill of health.
Bello-Koko explained the disparity between the Senate and House of Representatives Public Accounts Committees, attributing it to repetitive sums from the pre-2006 port concession era, already accounted for by the current NPA Management but not yet expunged from its books.
“These debts, dating back decades, include legacy debts from Nigerian National Shipping Line Ltd and the concession period. We’ve been carrying them in our books, making provisions, and have sought the Senate’s support to remove them,” he stated.
Assuring accountability, he detailed the debt composition, covering estate rents, lease fees, and throughput charges as outlined in Concession Agreements from 2006 to 2019. Recoveries amounting to $232,354,156.43 were highlighted, with a balance of $504,663,452.37 considered uncollectible due to various factors.
He outlined $269 million recovered from a N1.8 billion concessionaire debt, leaving a balance of N1.6 billion, representing encumbered areas. Additionally, $10.6 million has been reclaimed from the $67 million outstanding estate rent, ship dues, and service boats.
Bello-Koko attributed uncollectible debts to performance metric challenges, government policy changes, and infrastructure decay. He affirmed ongoing efforts to address disputes and emphasized that all outstanding amounts were accounted for by the end of 2022.
The NPA’s management, in collaboration with the World Bank, initiated a review of concession agreements to rectify anomalies. An inter-agency committee, involving NPA, FMOT, FMOJ, BPE, and ICRC, developed a template to prevent the recurrence of debt accumulation, leading to the signing of a supplemental concession/legal agreement set to take effect soon.
