The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has accused the management of Bua Ports and Terminal Limited of alleged blackmail.
Reacting to newspaper advertisement published by Bua Ports in some National Newspaper on Monday, NPA alleged that it was designed to among others “intimidate and prevent the Authority from performing its rightful regulatory oversight as well as malign the name of the Managing Director”.
According to NPA, the decision to decommission Rivers Ports Terminal B “results from its unwavering commitment to the rule of law as well as the safety of all Nigerians”.
NPA advised Nigerians to regard allegations from Bua, describing such allegations as “attempts by BUA Ports and Terminal Limited to blackmail and intimidate the NPA and stop the law from taking its course in the current situation”.
Explaining further, NPA said: “On Monday September 30, 2019, the management of BUA Ports and Terminal Limited took advertisements in some major newspapers where it alleged that the Nigerian Ports Authority NPA ran against the rule of law in decommissioning Rivers Ports Terminal B, operated by the company.
As a responsible government agency, which holds itself accountable to Nigerians, the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority hereby refutes all allegations of wrong doing suggested in the said adverts.
Management also asserts that this is an attempt to blackmail, intimidateand preventthe Authority from performing its rightful regulatory oversight as well as malign the name of the Managing Director.
The facts of the matter are as follows:
BUA Ports and Terminal Limited became concessionaires for Rivers Port Terminal B for a 20 -year tenure in line with the Port Reforms policy of the Federal Government through a concession agreement contract dated May 11, 2006.The Terminal was handed over to them for use with effect from August 10, 2006.
As part of the terms of agreement for the concession, BUA Ports and Terminal Limited was required to commence full reconstruction of berths 5-8 within 90 DAYS of hand over of the facility.
As of February 2016, TENYEARS after the handover of the premises to BUA Ports and Terminal Limited, the company had failed tocommence the reconstruction of berths 5-8 as required by the agreement. The Authority then issued a letter drawing their attention to this non-compliance.
Despite receiving the letter, dated February 3, 2016, the company refused to honour this fundamental and material term of the lease agreement which compromises the integrity of the other adjoining berths in the ports.
Consequent to the above, the Authority served a default notice dated February 11, 2016 and another one dated July 27, 2016 on the Terminal operator.The letter reminded that the non-compliance,which led to the deterioration of the berths 5-7 and the total collapse of berth 8 constitutes a breach of the concession agreement and a threat to the safety of lives around the terminal.
Committed to stop the flagrant abuse of the terms of its operating agreement and save users of the ports from any untoward incident, the Authority, on November 11, 2016, issued a three-month termination notice to the company, citing default notices served on them in relation to the non-fulfilment of the obligations under the lease agreement.
On receipt of the notice of termination, BUA Ports and Terminal sought and obtained a restraining order fromthe Federal High Court, Lagos on January 18, 2018 barring the Authority from giving effect to the termination.
In compliance with the restraining order of the Federal High Court, the Authority,thereafterallowed BUA Ports and Terminal Limited full access to the premise for peaceful operation, without any interference whatsoever
However, on May 16, 2019, after eighteen months of having peaceful use of the Terminal, the Authority received a letter from BUA Ports and Terminals Limited, informing usof the dilapidated state of the berth and stating amongst others: “The jetty is in a state of total dilapidation and in urgent need of repair or reconstruction…Our engineers have advised us that the jetty is liable to collapse at any moment…”
The Authority found the state of the jetty as described by BUA Ports and Terminals Limited themselves as very risky, posing a safety hazard to all users in the Terminal and demanding of urgent attention.
This is more so because the complaint is coming 13 full years after BUA Ports and Terminals Limited committed to embark on this reconstruction by virtue of the lease agreement with the FGN
As a result, the Authority found it necessary to decommission the terminal out of safety concerns. This is a measure to forestall imminent danger as highlighted by BUA Ports and Terminal themselves and to allow for a comprehensive conditional survey of the state of the Rivers Ports in totality. All these steps are in line with international best practices on safety at port locations.
The Authority, as a responsible regulator having received that alarming letter on the state of the jetty by the operators wascompelled to act in the manner it did to safeguard infrastructure at the Rivers Port and the ensure the safety of its users
It is pertinent to note that the process for the default notices issued to BUA commenced in February 2016 beforethe appointment of the current Managing Director. However, in line with her commitment to the rule of law, she proceeded to implement the recommendations to safeguard the sanctity of the agreement and protect the FGN from a defaulting concessionaire seeking to defraud the FGN by using its facilities without making the due investment enshrined in the development plan of the concession agreement.
Resultantly, any inference of vendetta against the Chairman of BUA Group is another of the numerous tactics aimed at distracting the Authority and stopping Nigerians from seeing the flagrant disregard of thecontractual agreement by BUA.
The NPA therefore states that the decision to decommission Rivers Ports Terminal B results from its unwavering commitment to the rule of law as well as the safety of all Nigerians. Nigerians should regard these allegations as attempts by BUA Ports and Terminal Limited to blackmail and intimidate the NPA and stop the law from taking its course in the current situation.
