How Presidency ‘Wasted’ N400 Million On Port Reform Committee—Mystery WhistleBlower

In this exclusive interview with MMS Plus, a maritime bigwig revealed how NDLEA was smuggled into the ports. He also exposed the corrupt, illegal and other sharp practices orchestrated by government agencies within the nations ports with a view to appraise the possibility of achieving the presidential order on ease of doing business and 24 hours ports operations.

Excerpts: 

Among the seven agencies authorized to operate at the ports in 2012, we observed that Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) wasn’t there. Is it because NPA is assumed to be the landlord? While the recent list released by NPA doesn’t include National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) which means, seven agencies by the presidency without NPA and seven agencies by NPA without NDLEA. I remember that you were a member of the 2012 port reform committee. Can you please clarify the discrepancies between the NDLEA and NPA eligibility status at the ports?

NDLEA is part of the agencies authorized to operate at the ports. The controversy started at the recent port stakeholders meeting on the executive order for the ports. We had a meeting where the NPA Managing Director, Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman and Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd) were in attendance, the NDLEA representative protested when NDLEA was not mentioned among the ports authorized agencies and Ms. Hadiza quickly corrected her statement by confirming that NDLEA was eligible while apologizing for her initial omission which she claimed was an oversight.  Sincerely, I don’t know how everybody forgot that aspect and people want to make issues that NDLEA and NPA are quarrelling. Let me tell you, it was the massive importation of drugs that happened during the time the port reform committee made its reports that made the president direct NDLEA to go back to the ports to monitor the influx of drugs.

What’s the rationale behind every agency’s agitation and struggle to be at the ports?

Our problems haven’t always been who will be in the ports but the bottlenecks they create by being there. What this means is that, because they are asked to be in the ports as government agencies, even when certain issues in the clearing process doesn’t concern an agency, you observe that the agency wants to partake at all cost. They all want to get involved in the examination so that they can get settlements. You will hear them brag “If you don’t come and see us, none of the cargoes will go”. The most ridiculous is the role the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is playing. The Customs is not helping matters at all. As far as Customs is concerned, if those seven agencies’ endorsement isn’t found on your examination forms, they will not release your cargoes to you and I believe this is very wrong. The truth is that we haven’t put our acts together.

The urge that everybody is struggling to be at the ports has nothing to do with going there on the purpose of working for government but for personal aggrandizements. Though they often claim to be safeguarding the interest of the nation but most important thing is the cash that goes into their pockets. The government isn’t serious with what they are saying otherwise even the policemen in the port process have no business in the examination of cargoes.

How would you react to the recent Presidential Executive Order on 24 hours operations and ease of doing business at the ports?

The Federal Government got it wrong  when they jettisoned the report we made then at the level of the presidential committee on port reforms. As a committee, we came up with five smart steps to cargo clearance. Customs to a large extent was able to conform to its own by bringing up the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) but all other agencies did nothing. The government asked us to come up with that report and I learnt about four hundred million naira (N400m) was even released for the committee and none of the committee members received a dime. Those people only made money with it. I can boldly say that if that report had been implemented the nation should have been able to achieve 48 hours cargo delivery time if 24 hours isn’t attainable. That report was endorsed by the President, yet no action was taken. You see, the whole thing looks as if it is a syndicate, in the sense that everybody slows down the job in order to get personal benefits. When the vessel arrives, shipping companies begin to count their money before the vessel gets to offload. So the longer it takes you to take your containers away and bring the empty back the more the benefits to the shipping companies and terminal operators irrespective of the cause of the delay. (Shipping companies because they must pay demurrage for the containers, until you return the empty one, they continue to count. The terminal operators will as well count for your rent).

Again, as long as the roads remain in such dilapidated state that vehicles cannot leave the ports for three to four days to return to the terminal who benefits? Terminal operators! So, this is not the best timing for 24 hours operations when the roads are as bad as they are. And let me ask you something, have you ever heard the Minister of Transport, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi say a word about this bad road?

We engaged the Transport Minister, Amaechi on this issue during his maiden visit to the Apapa ports. In fact, we did a story preceding his visit. When our reporter asked him on his plans towards changing the face of the road, his response was simply that the road issue wasn’t within his jurisdiction “I know nothing about it, I am not in charge of roads, it is Fashola’’ He said. 

Can you imagine that! What a statement by a Minister supervising so many agencies under his ministry! As the Minister of Transportation, let us even leave the repairing of roads for now, what about the transportation aspect of it?

Are all these trailers and trucks welfare (how they can access good roads and all that) not under his jurisdiction? This problem is creating scarcity and making things expensive that’s why I don’t like commenting on this kind of issues anymore. I am tired of them. How can a whole federal minister of transport be saying “it is not me ooh, it is the work of Fashola” when both of them belong to the Federal Executive Council (FEC)?  If Amaechi makes proper presentations and sensitizes others about the imperativeness of the road, telling them it’s a shame on them as leaders, will they not give instructions to Fashola to do the fixing expediently? Or are they dragging something? It is like they don’t even know what they have to do.

When Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) was the Lagos state governor, I remember your committee visited him then and even brought him to the port. His complaint  then was about PDP at the national level not allowing him to do the needful. Now that he is fortunate to be the Minister in charge in the same political party at the national level why is he still reluctant to solve this port road problem?

You see, there is something wrong with them up there. There is a disconnect somewhere and I will tell you what this disconnect is. In an effort for them to seal all avenues and leakages with which people are making illegal money coupled with the pursuit of those looters, they also seal up the opportunities for themselves to make money. Hence, their negligence and inconsistencies at work. This is creating big problems amongst them, because there are some things they can’t tell anybody.  Imagine, the ports were shut down for three days and the Minister of Transport doesn’t care, and he never mentioned it anywhere.

Thanks for the clarification on NDLEA, but when we contacted the chairman of the committee, Prof. Monye on this same issue, he said he left government two years ago and wouldn’t like to comment on it. Why?

He cannot comment because he messed up. All of us were in the maritime retreat in Abuja and I was the one who defended the report. Dangote, Okonjo- Iweala, Vice President and the President were in attendance and they applauded that it was a good package. It was when we came out in the open with all government departments present that he (Monye) presented it and it was adopted.

However, the Prof. Monye that has been calling us for meetings several times to satisfy their interest never even called again to say thank you for the job we have done. What kind of life is that? A special adviser to the president wasn’t he on the same level with the minister. Anyway, he is one of the lucky ones because they didn’t find him wanting or maybe his own is yet to come.

What is your appraisal of the controversial CRFFN Act amendment?

The government isn’t serious about the growth of the port sector, what they are interested in is how to make CRFFN a money making machine. Let me tell you, CRFFN is getting a budget of N4 billion from the appropriation that is designed now. What job are they doing? They are also projecting CRFFN to be in the service commission of the Customs, they are to share from the 7% of the money that goes to Customs which has now been made legal in their amended act, and they are also to share in NIMASA, NPA and Shippers Council funds. For every container in the port, one will be required to pay to CRFFN the same amount on POF.

Isn’t CRFFN supposed to render services for the government? It shouldn’t be money making. They are supposed to be the regulatory agency that assists the government. For instance, Standard Organization of Nigerian (SON) is to make sure that sub-standard goods aren’t imported into the country and at least they give them money for appropriation but go and see the charges they are imposing on everybody. They will tell you this is penalty charges, amongst other frivolous charges. All the agencies, including the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Nigerian Quarantine Service (NQS) just give out bills for people to pay.

Where is the money going? If it’s going to the federation account, is that how government intends to continuously squeeze Nigerians? In the long run these payments get to a stage where it is the commoners that will bear the burden on increased prices of goods.