By Abimbola Abdullahi
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has generated about N163.5 billion revenue between January and June this year.
The amount, according to the General Manager, Finance of NPA, Emeka Ezugwu, during an interactive session on 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), in Abuja represents 54% of its 2021 revenue target.
Ezugwu told the committee that NPA’s 2021 revenue target was N301.7 billion, noting that “as of June 2021 we have attained N163.5 billion. That should be 54% performance. We are on course to meeting the estimate.”
He said NPA generated N284.36 billion in 2018, N280.3 billion in 2019 and N303.58 billion in 2020.
Responding to allegations by the 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 has a outstanding liability of N255 billion 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 Mobilization 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.”
The Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, James Faleke, said FRC was the body statutory empowered by the constitution to monitor remittances.
“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 are 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.” He said.
