The Vice President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Dr Kayode Farinto said the main purpose of the LADOL Free Zone is the provision of logistical, engineering and other support services for deep water offshore oil and gas exploration.
“After the concession of our ports to the terminal operators, NPA remains the landlord and has its core responsibility to perform. Part of it is the monitoring of the agreement it has with various service providers and it has mandatory obligation to ensure compliance.
If those that are saddled with the responsibility of making our ports attractive and competitive are violating the agreement they had with with the federal government through the NPA, President Muhammadu Buhari needs to direct the anti-graft agencies to carry out their statutory responsibility and in this fresh case between the NPA and LADOL, the President needs to do so.
“As a designated Free Zone, LADOL offers its clients numerous benefits, including:
Exemptions from federal, state and local government taxes. Therefore, if the allegation of concealment of the amount collected by the firm from SHIN is established, the federal government must impose the necessary sanctions to serve as deterrent to others,” Farinto said.
Also, a maritime lawyer and a university don Dr Dipo Alaka gave kudos to the Ministry of Transpirtation and NPA for carrying out the preliminary investigation before the anti-graft agencies would be asked to do their duty.
“LADOL Free Zone was authorised by the Nigerian Export and Process Zones Authority and established pursuant to the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Act (Act No.63 1992).
The Free Zone scheme, Alaka said,, envisions flying the nation’s economy away from oil, fast-tracking her industrialisation, stimulating export-oriented business enterprises and manufacturing, strengthening strategic national economic policies, streamlining administrative approval processes as well as providing a one-stop-shop service for businesses both within and outside the country.
An expert in the oil and gas industry, Mr Folagbade Adeyemo said LADOL zone is one of the largest port in Nigeria and has been constructed to help the companies dealing in offshore logistics.
He urged the company to protect its investment by resolving the crisis it has with the NPA amicably.
“No matter how powerful you may be, you cannot win the government when it comes to the violation of a subsisting agreement.
We want to believe that LADOL violated the agreement inadvertently and it must look for a way to resolve it amicably, because the anti-graft agencies may be asked to investigate the amount collected by LADOL from SHIN and the amount it paid to NPA,” Adeyemo said.
