NPA Generated N163.5bn in H1 2021 – GM

THE Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) generated N163.5bn in the first half of 2021, the agency’s General Manager, Finance, Emeka Ezugwu has said

Ezugwu made this known at an interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Finance on the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) in Abuja.

He stated that the amount, represented 54% of its 2021 revenue target.

Ezugwu said NPA’s 2021 revenue target was N301.7bn, adding that as of June 2021, the agency had attained N163.5bn.

“That should be 54% performance. We are on course to meeting the estimate,” he said.

According to the GM, NPA generated N284.36bn in 2018, N280.3bn in 2019 and N303.58bn in 2020.

Responding to allegations by an official of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Bello Gulmare, that NPA failed to file its audited accounts for 2019 and 2020 and that it had an outstanding liability of N255bn to settle with the Federal Government, Ezugwu said, “Our 2019 (accounts) has already been approved by the board, 2020 is ongoing. FRC has not done any reconciliation with the NPA for the past four years.

“The figure he is brandishing does not align with what we have. We have done reconciliation with Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC). We are also engaging the Accountant General (of the Federation) office right now and we have a letter from them inviting us for reconciliation.”

Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, James Faleke, said “By law, when it comes to remittances, this office (FRC) is superior to the Accountant General Office. This is a constitutional office—it is not just created by an act of the National Assembly.

“It is important that you reconcile with the FRC. You should be eager to reconcile with them. If their report is laid before the National Assembly and you are found wanting, it has consequences. So, reconcile within two weeks. We have ruled that we need a comprehensive list of all agreements reached by NPA with its tenants, indicating how much each of those tenants is supposed to be paying on a monthly or annual basis, and copies of the agreements be attached. We need all the account details of the JVC accounts.”