The General Manager, Public Affairs of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Captain Iheanacho Ebubeogu has debunked claims that the NPA has been in financial crisis since the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
Capt. Ebubeogu stated that the TSA is a new but promising platform with a few rough edges because it is still a new initiative. He asserted that the NPA wasn’t crippled by the TSA but they were improving with regards to the new initiative which he believes will become good in the end.
“The Treasury Single Account is a very good initiative. It is a new thing with requires security measures and as such the NPA is experiencing the rough edges but we know it will be fine in the end. We are improving with the TSA, things will stabilize very soon”, he explained at a recent media parley.
There have been several reports that the operations and financial obligations of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have greatly been hampered even as several anonymous sources at the NPA have decried the financial state of the Authority since the introduction of the TSA.
Responding to a question on the plans of the NPA on fixing the dilapidated port roads in several parts of the country, Capt. Ebubeogu said the NPA had begun to embark on a more comprehensive approach to addressing these roads. However in doing so, we must subject the process to conform to the provisions of the ports procurement of 2007. He added spoke to the Engineering department of the Authority recently who revealed that the projects would kick-off as soon as all necessary approvals were completed.
Capt. Ebubeogu also debunked claims of a rift between the Executive Directors and the Managing Director of the NPA as well as rumours of the MD, Habib Abdullahi to frequently visit the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recently.
“I am not aware of any rift between the Managing Directors and the Executive Directors. I haven’t observed any, but whenever I see them together, I see them smiling and chatting. The MD hasn’t told me that he would be any from the office at anytime because he was visiting the office of the EFCC”
He also admonished port terminal owners not to expect the NPA to fetch them customers but realize that they ought to create value, have a tidy and accessible warehouse, provide security and market their terminals. The persons accessing these terminals are not being forced; they will only patronize terminals that give them optimal value. The glory days when the NPA would send customers to terminals are long gone and terminal owners should realize this and stop living on past sentiments. We no longer handle cargo and as a result we cannot compel anyone to patronize a warehouse terminal.
