MD NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko

The Nigerian Ports Authority NPA, has refuted insinuations in a segment of the media that it operates two secret foreign exchange accounts, which have been allegedly looted, insisting that there is absolutely no truth in such insinuations.

In a statement signed by the General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Ibrahim Nasiru, the authority said that such false and malicious report must be the handiwork of detractors, insisting that the NPA operates two genuine USD-denominated domiciliary accounts that were duly approved by the Federal Government and transparently run in line with statutory and agreed official safeguards emplaced by the Office of the Accountant General through the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN and the Treasury Single Account TSA policy against possible infractions and looting.

 According to him, NPA management’s initial disposition was to dismiss the news report with a wave of the hand, but decided otherwise in order to put the records straight and disabuse the minds of well-meaning and unsuspecting members of the various publics on the subject matter.

He however disclosed that the NPA on August 26, 2016 requested for approval from the Accountant General of the Federation to open two accounts for the collection of service boats pilotage revenue, which was approved.

It was further gathered that the approval was for the opening of the accounts in Zenith Bank and Fidelity Bank respectively with their correspondent foreign banks as Citibank N.A in London and New York respectively for the purposes of collecting service boats pilotage revenue accruing to the NPA.

The Chief image-maker, noted that the current management of under the leadership of Mohammed Bello-Koko as the Managing Director is only aware of the approved USD-denominated domiciliary accounts as approved by the AGF and not aware of any secret foreign accounts as indicated in the malicious online newspaper report.

He also assured that the NPA management runs an open administration and gives premium to due process in the execution of its core mandates and therefore urged Nigerians to take note of the management’s commitment to transparency in all its financial transactions.

The statement reads in part: “The attention of the Nigerian Ports Authority NPA has been drawn to an online media report on Monday, July 25, 2022, suggesting that the authority operates two secret accounts outside Nigeria, which have been allegedly looted. While the NPA management’s initial disposition was to dismiss the news report with a wave of the hand, the compelling need to set the records straight and disabuse the minds of well-meaning and unsuspecting members of the various publics on the subject matter assumed prime consideration.”

We therefore wish to state as follows:

 “That as of the time the request for approval was made to the AGF, that class of revenue was being collected by Integrated Logistics Services Limited INTELS on behalf of the NPA from inception of the managing agent relationship which dates back to 1996. That there was a management agency relationship between INTELS and the NPA, which gave INTELS the responsibility to monitor service boats’ operations and collect revenue from such operations on behalf of the NPA at an agreed commission.

“That both NPA and INTELS rely on the provision in the executed agreement to have access to view the inflow into the accounts for ease of reconciliation and to enable it determine online real- time amounts paid by clients and the value of invoice to send to the NPA for payment of their management services.

“That on a monthly basis, there were hundreds of payments for service boats operations that make payments directly into INTELS bank account. That on periodic basis, INTELS remitted a portion of the revenue collected to the NPA and retained significant portion in its vault, comprising commission on collection of revenue and cost of Onne phase 4B expansion project through amortisation.

“That the Management of the NPA considered this practice as being completely at variance with the requirements of Treasury Single Account TSA policy of government, which made it mandatory that all revenues accruing to all Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies MDAs must be remitted into one consolidated TSA account in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“That NPA management conducted a thorough review of the executed management agency agreement it entered into with INTELS and felt the urgent need to open revenue accounts dedicated to the collection of revenue from service boats operations based on certain parameters.

“That the parameters included, among others: to ensure that government revenues no longer reside in the vaults  of private  operators or companies; to ensure seamless reconciliation of revenue collection from service boats operations as there were hundreds entries per month; to enthrone accountability and transparency in the management  of revenue generation and collection from service boats operations; to enhance prompt reconciliation of service boats revenue generation  and collection, which will facilitate prompt payment  of agency commission by the  Authority to INTELS in a transparent manner; and the prompt remittance of the net revenue after deduction of agency commission  into the authority’s TSA sub-account in the CBN.

“The management also wishes to state that all the supposed assertions and innuendos in the news report as regards secrecy and diversion of funds in the accounts are nothing but spurious and laughable concoctions and disingenuous misinformation about happenings in the NPA in the fertile imaginations of the author of the unconscionable report.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the management states categorically that there was no how the funds in the accounts could have been secretly diverted or privatised as significant safeguards had been put in place by the Federal Government.

“In a February 13, 2017 letter of approval from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation for the opening of the accounts for collection of service boats pilotage revenue, operational modalities were also approved.

“That the NPA will operate collection accounts only with two commercial banks to be designated as ‘Transit Account’, that balances in these accounts will be swept daily into the designate TSA Revenue Sub-Accounts with the or as mutually agreed by all parties, that on no account should withdrawals be made from these Revenue Accounts, that participatory banks and INTELS will write formally to the NPA to demand their collection charges on monthly basis or as may have been agreed with them;

“That the NPA, upon due confirmation, reconciliation and necessary due diligence, will forward the request to the Office of the Account General of the Federation for payment to parties; and that in case of further clarifications on this matter, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation should be contacted, accordingly.

“Besides, there were additional checks mechanisms put in place with the Banks to provide internet banking for the service boat revenue collection to enable “view-only” and printing capabilities of the statements of accounts by over twenty top management staff members of the NPA. With these explanations, the management hereby wishes to state that the specious report about two persons looting the NPA’s so-called secret accounts could not have been possible.”