Allegations of resistant to inquiries on finances of NPA are false, says Bala Usman
By Fredrick Wright
The suspended Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman has described as false the allegations made by Senator Binta Garba, a former board member of the authority.
Garba had posited that she was removed from NPA board for raising observations over the agency’s financial records.
Binta, who made her position known in a statement at the weekend said her observations did not go down well with the suspended NPA boss and she alleged that Ms. Bala-Usman decided her removal from the board without the knowledge or recommendation of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
Hadiza, however, in a response obtained by our correspondent, queried the senator for not registering her reservations complaints when the auditors presented the financial statement to the finance committee, which she was a member.
Bala Usman said apart from the fact that Garba really said nothing substantial, making only spurious, unproved allegations in the statement, she also gave herself away as coming to the board of NPA to lend herself to the agency of destabilisation rather than contribute to its development.
She said: “As I say with all emphasis that her allegations of resistant to inquiries on the finances of the NPA are false, I make bold to say that Authority has since 2016, openly exhibited its readiness to be held to public scrutiny by taking the steps such as: Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with BUdgit Open Budget System Platform and Implementation of a Public Data Dissemination programme.
Other steps are: Publishing the tariff regime of the Authority on the website for the whole world to see in line with the vision of transparency and accountability.
It also includes conducting the statutory Audit of the backlog of Authority’s financial statements for 2013-2016 and presenting same for approval and submission to the appropriate quarters.
Also, it engaged international renowned auditing firms for the audit of NPA’s financial statements up until 2019 with full compliance to all Nigerian laws and the International Financial Reporting Standards. The 2020 financial statement is currently being audited” she stated.
Bala Usman said there are a few questions to ask the senator: “When the Auditors presented the financial statement to the finance committee of which she was a member, did she seek clarifications on areas that seemed opaqued or suspicious? If she did what happened? If she was not satisfied with the answers provided by the Auditors, why did she not consider withholding assent to the statement? Why did she not formally document her discontent? Why did she not issue a minority opinion on the statement, instead of now speaking after the fact?
“All said and done, while I concede to Senator Binta Garba’s right to whatever opinion she desires concerning our relationship when she was a board member, I remind her that those who allow themselves to be used to malign innocent people have their own days of reckoning waiting for them,” she said.
