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Salisu Ahmed highlights areas of dispute between INTELS and Nigerian Ports Authority
Nigeria is watching the drama unfolding between Integrated Logistics Services (INTELS), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the federal government.
Over the past couple of years, NPA has taken a firmer and more independent stance with INTELS. Among other things, NPA started to question the appropriateness of some actions of INTELS such as its refusal to pay into the government of Nigeriaâs Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the many years delays, or even outright refusals, to pay fees to the government worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Further, NPA questioned whether the government was always getting adequate value from its relations with INTELS. A case in point being the Phase 4B construction contract in Onne Port, Rivers State, that NPA had previously awarded to INTELS and which now looks like a hugely expensive white elephant project for which NPA is picking up the bill.
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The upper chamber noted that the non-remittance of N67.51 billion for 2013 and 2014 into the consolidated revenue fund (CRF), being 25 percent of its internally generated revenue (IGR) contravened the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.
It added that the failure to remit capitalised interest to the CRF, “totalling” N99.71 million, between 2013 and 2014 contravened Rule 236 of the Financial Regulations.
In May 2021, the senate committee on finance had
invited heads of 60 government-owned firms, including the ports authority, to explain the failure to remit various funds running into about N3 trillion to the federal government’s account.
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In a statement signed by Ezrel Tabiowo, special assistant (press) to the senate president, on Wednesday, the upper chamber mandated the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the accounting officer under Rule 3112 (I and II) of the Financial Regulations.
Senate5
The Senate, yesterday, ordered 59 Federal Government agencies to return over N300 billion misappropriated funds into the federation account.
It gave a 60-day ultimatum within which all money illegally spent by the erring agencies between 2013 and 2015 should be recovered and remitted into the treasury
This was sequel to the consideration of the report of the Committee on Public Accounts on the yearly report of the Auditor General of the Federation (AGF) on accounts of the Federation for the year ended December 31, 2015 (Part Ii &1). x
The Senate panel, for over a year, had been investigating expenditures of Federal Government agencies from 2015 to 2018 based on audit report by the AGF.
Chibuike Amaechi
The Federal Government has urged the management of Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited and other stakeholders, to work tirelessly to ensure that the port becomes operational by mid-2022.
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, during an inspection visit to the port, expressed satisfaction with the level of progress recorded on the construction of the Lekki Deep Sea Port project.
Amaechi inspected the facility in the company of other government agencies like the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC) and the Nigerian Maritime Administrative and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
“I am very delighted and impressed with the pace and the progress of construction work on this project compared to the last time I was here in November 2020. The promoter of the project, Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited has demonstrated strong commitment and capacity to deliver the project as agreed,” he said.