REVEALED: The Operational Fogs in NPA under Hadiza Bala-Usman

More revelations are coming to the fore over the imbroglio between the suspended Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman and her boss, the Minister of Transportation, Rt Hon Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi.

For some time now, the impression sold in the public space was that Amaechi was oppressing the NPA boss, however, those who are sufficiently privy to the operations of the NPA and its supervisory ministry have confirmed that Hadiza have actually been having a free reign, as the Transportation minister does not micromanage his appointees.

The Allegations against Hadiza

Reliable sources in the Ministry of Transportation have itemised the suspended NPA boss, including;

• The failure of the Hadiza Bala Usman to remit N165B into the government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) is crucial and at the nexus of the crisis rocking the NPA. Those keen on defending her should ask whether or not the Budget Office of the federation raised an alarm on the under-remittance from the NPA?
Those who do not know should ask the senate about their findings in their over-sight functions in the transactional details of the NPA. Any one still doubting what the Budget Office said should listen to Senator Hassan Mohammed who said, the NPA had failed to remit over N177 billion into the federation account.
She however argues that the figure quoted by the Budget office are at variance with reality.

* In November 2019, a board meeting agreed that rather than expend as much as N50 billion annually on the dredging of the ports, it should buy its own equipment and dredge the ports by itself. The idea was that in two or so years , both equipment and manpower (including the requisite technical skill) would have been acquired. But did Hadiza follow this decision? No! she preferred the continuous award of the contracts for obvious reasons.
It was the failure of Hadiza to follow this instruction that led to the formal memo of the Ministry in February 2021, directing that the NPA should buy its own equipment , train necessary people to undertake the dredging. This, again, was defied as Hadiza allegedly circumvented the supervising ministry to procure approval for the award of the contract, directly from the presidency. Is this the Due Process?

• Can Hadiza explain what happened to the first audit report of 2018? Is it true that the initial audit report was so damning on the integrity of the NPA that it had to be withdrawn? For the records, the Auditor General’s Office had remarked that the NPA books were riddled with sundry accounting deficiencies, irregularities and errors, while blaming Hadiza for “gross betrayal of public trust” by flagrantly by-passing official Due Process in most of her transactions. For months, everybody was searching for the 2018 audited reports, right from the office of the Auditor General through the National Assembly to even the NPA itself. It vanished! And when it eventually resurfaced, it had been thoroughly cleaned up, re-worked and deodorized. Where is the original 2018 audit report???

• There were queries on excessive and constantly increasing administrative cost including excessive cost on hotel accommodation, under-disclosure of expenditure on hotel expenses.

• The 2018 audit had also indicted Hadiza of alleged unremitted deduction to Federal Inland Revenue Service to include N3,667,750,470, $148,845,754.04, Euro 4,891,449.50 and 252,682.14 British Pounds

• The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) had refused to attend to Hadiza’s requests on award of contracts because they circumvented the laid down Due Process, as most of NPA’s memo’s were not routed through the Supervising ministry, which the BPP said, invalidated the memos.

* Those in defence of Hadiza should ask her who gave her the approval to expend N1.2 Billion on “office cars” after the #EndSARS protesters attacked the NPA? Does she have the right to expend above her threshold of N5million, without the approval of the Board or the supervising ministry?

• How does Hadiza explain the billions of Naira she expends on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) every year? What is more, the CSR are usually in Kaduna, Kano, Katsina etc? what is the business of the NPA in those states? Is there any port in the entire north? The closest, perhaps, is the Ship House in Abuja, which does not even approximate the shadow of a port. Yet, that is where our almighty Hadiza pours in billions of Naira every year servicing her private and primordial interests in the name of NPA’s CSR. Or in the many IDPs where she splurges public funds mindlessly? How is buying wrapper for women a CSR affair? How much of the CSR is done for the communities where the NPA really operates? Many people are asking if she is using public funds to feather her own political nest

Many people have also dabbled into the so-called INTELS contract without understanding the underlying tone thereof.
Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government, in its wisdom, had directed through the Bureau of Public Procurement that no new non-urgent contracts should be awarded. That meant that there should be the maintenance of status quo ante. But no, Madam MD wanted to be more catholic than the Pope and insisted on awarding a fresh contract. In her determination she scaled over the ministry to the BPP, and when that one did not work, she went to lobby the presidency to get approval for the award of a fresh contract. Hadiza was determined to work from the answer to the question. She conducted a kangaroo Bid process, which expectedly found the existing contractor wanting. So, the contract was then awarded to…, guess who, Aliko Dangote who not only has more than ethno-filia relationship with HBU, but has also benefited immensely from Hadiza’s administration of the NPA. What is more, even when the dredging contract was awarded to Dangote, it was still NPA Staff that are used to do the job, yet, the suspended MD argues mendaciously that the NPA does not have the requisite skill set and manpower to do the job? Who is fooling who?

As a little digression can somebody tell Hadiza that until 2004, under the Chief Adebayo Sarumi MD-ship, NPA used to undertake all the dredging tasks of the ports. The NPA had dredging vessels such as Suction Dredger—Md SD Sea Lion, SD Gumel and SD River Tiga. They maintained the Lagos Channels faithfully. But under Sarumi, they privatized the Harbour Department, Dredging and the Pilotage units. Where are those equipment? Where are those men? Nigerians hope it is not the same NPA equipment and manpower that are being used, yet it is being presented as a privatized venture? It is an area the Administrative panel must carefully look into

This same Dangote has enjoyed sundry waivers, including cancellation of port charges for over a thousand containers, to the detriment of the federal purse, courtesy of Madam MD’s questionable discretion, yet records indicate that he (Dangote) is still owing the federal government over $38million. Is anybody still wondering why there is an under-remittance? Not only is he granted an unfair edge over and above his competitors, she also exempted Dangote from paying in USD while the same NPA insists that other competitors to Dangote pay in USD. What is more, terminals and platforms are arbitrarily cancelled and awarded in favour of Dangote. Many have wondered why HBU, in pursuit of her personal relationship with Dangote, has practically short-changed the entire federation. And they talk about equity?

• The NPA runs an annual budget of N400billion. Which of the 19 northern states, including Hadiza’s Kaduna State runs any budget near that? Does she not understand the common wisdom that it is the colour of the feather that defines the bird?

• The Administrative panel will also do well to do a forensic examination in checking how proxy persons and companies have been used time and time again to harvest contract awards from the NPA

• Finally, what degree of insurbordination was she showing to her boss? For over three years, she had over-rated herself as being too big to attend inter-parastatal board meetings of the ministry. She kept sending a junior manager to represent the NPA. It was not until a new Perm Sec, Dr Mrs Magdalene Ajani, replaced the former PS who retired, refused to attend to NPA memos and budgets, unless she attended the meetings by herself, did Hadiza start attending the meetings. What else was keeping her away from such meetings, if not butterfly thinking itself a bird?

• In pursuit of the belief in her connection with the powers that be, she bye-passed the MOT and headed straight to the Presidency, enroute the Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari to procure a second term, without the recommendation and approval of the MOT, as the Public Service ACT prescribes.

Nigerians are eagerly awaiting the findings of the 11-man Administrative Panel set up to enquire into the operations of the Hadiza BalaUsman-led board of the NPA in the last five years.