The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has generated over $1 billion from the 15- year-Joint Venture (JV) agreement it signed with Depasa Marine International Limited.
NPA is the Federal Government agency charged with providing port facilities. Some of its charges include the following: lease and vessel fees; cargo and shipping dues; provisional bill and concession fees; pilotage and royalties.
The revenue generated, findings have shown, was derived by the NPA between 2005 and last year from the collection of ship dues in Lagos Port Complex (LPC) and the Tin-Can Island ports in Lagos
NPA entered into the JV with Depasa in June 2005 to boost its earnings.
Managing Director of NPA, Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman, it was gathered, is the Chairman of the company by virtue of her position and the provisions of the agreement it signed.
NPA, investigation shew, holds 60 per cent equity participation in the JV company named Lagos Channel Management Limited (LCM).
LCM is responsible for the managing and maintaining the Lagos Channel.
The amount, investigation has shown, is outside the yearly 5.5 per cent anticipated increase in vessels flow as projected by Haskoning’s Forecast of May 30, 2002.
The ship dues, sources close to NPA told The Nation, said are being paid into the Escrow Account owned by the JV.
Acording to the agreement, exclusively obtained by The Nation, the signatories to the offshore escrow account were established in the name of the LCM and operated by the NPA and Depasa. The two directors of the company are representing the interests of the NPA and the consortium acting and signing.
The JV, it was gathered, provides a significant improvement in the revenue earning capability of NPA by establishing an efficient billing, and has an initial life of 15 years renewable at both parties.
The agreement, it was learnt, was entered into, to enable NPA provides a highly efficient, reliable and cost-effective management and project implementation operators, to ensure that NPA meets and exceeds its daily commitments, as legally required, for the maintenance of channel depths and navigational aids in the ports and access channels.
The JV, a senior official of the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMoT), who does not want his name in print, said has enable NPA to fulfill its obligations under law on the maintenance of the depth of the ports and the entrance channels and the good working order of the port’s buoy systems.
“The NPA’s revenue depends upon the proper collection of ship dues. A joint team from NPA and Depasa had been established to control collection of the dues.
“LCM has established a state-of-the-art computerised billing system, which has provided an efficient collecting and monitoring procedure, of the ship dues, which has led to the increase of NPA revenue,” the senior official said.
The business of the company include : maintenance of Lagos Channel and ports; capital dredging of the Lagos Channel; quarterly bathymetric surveys in Lagos Channel and ports; buoy maintenance and surveillance in Lagos Channel and ports; planning and management of dredging in Lagos Channel and ports; assist in the monitoring of vessels using Lagos Channel and ports ; wreck removal in the Lagos Channel and ports; visual pollution monitoring and reporting operations in the Lagos Channel and ports and management training of the NPA’s staff.
The company, after operating for almost 16 years, “ NPA should examine the books and records of the LCM, re-examine its partnership with Depasa and make its findings public,” said, a maritime lawyer, Mr Oluwaseyi Muhammed.
