The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, has disclosed that INTELS Nigeria Limited paid $42.6 million (about N13.2 billion) into the authority’s Treasury Single Account (TSA).
She made the disclosure while addressing members of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee probing into the matter, adding that the payment was remitted after the company received termination notice from the NPA.
According to her, the company also apologised for not complying with TSA and the new sharing formula.
Specifically, Usman confirmed that the company paid $28.1million into the agency’s TSA account with a promise to pay additional $14.5million which, she said, had been paid, but yet to be confirmed by the NPA.
She said: “The implementation of TSA by the Federal Government compelled the authority to remit revenue generated directly into government coffers while NPA in turn pays agency fees of 28 percent of whatever was generated to INTELS.”
According to NPA’s calculations, of $4 million per month as government’s share, based on the previous agreement, what accrued to NPA would be $48 million.
Usman told the lawmakers that NPA had two layers of relationship with INTELS. They include, the management agency where it collects revenues on behalf of NPA and keeps 28 percent and port infrastructure development on the basis of which the company constructed and manages the Onne Port in Onne, Rivers State.
The NPA boss also explained that the initial agreement, which will lapse in 2020 based on its 10 year-term, gave INTELS the powers to generate and keep 28 percent of revenue collected on behalf of NPA.
She clarified: “The NPA under the new management had to come up with a new draft that incorporated a sharing formula in a model that complies with the TSA, which was why we said they should start remitting directly to the TSA while the NPA pays its 28 percent agency fees.”
It would be recalled that the NPA and INTELS’ managements had been embroiled in raging controversies over disagreements over the past few months on payments and or what should be paid by the company into government’s coffers.
While the NPA’s authorities accused the company of violating the terms of the agreement on revenue collections, INTELS alleged that the government agency had frustrated its efforts aimed at reconciling its figures with those at NPA’s disposal with a view to determining its actual liability due for remittance to the TSA.
