Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Ports Authority, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho.

The Nigerian Ports Authority NPA has said the Federal Government is not in a haste to renew existing port concession agreements with the current terminal operators, citing structural problems inherent in the old agreements, which must be properly addressed.

Managing Director/CEO of the Authority, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, who spoke with newsmen, insists that there was urgent need to review and possibly address the structural challenges associated with the old agreement in line with the efforts of the government to strengthen investor confidence in the system by forestalling every possible sources of disputes.

He further disclosed that the government is currently focused on putting adequate legal and structural frameworks that would give the investors a measure of confidence in the system to forestall future disagreements and possible litigations.

“Every rational investor would want to put his money where the legal framework is clear and strong. What we should be concerned about is the quality of the agreement not the speed in churning it out.

“After all, there is this popular saying that the end justifies the means. The government believes that it is better to have a solid concession agreement that meets global standards and also stands the test of time”, the NPA-boss said.

Dr. Dantsoho, who also reacted to concerns over the fate of the Inland Container Depot ICD, and bonded terminal operators in the current dispensation, advised the operators to adapt their businesses to the current dynamics of the country’s port industry, which also reflect global trends in seaport management systems.

He argued that these new dynamics in port management have led to a drastic reduction in port congestion, which was the reason for the coming on stream of the ICDs and bonded terminals, adding that they need to rejig their business models to fit into current realities in the industry.

He said: “Of a truth, they played a great role during the port congestion era, but business is dynamic, so they must adapt to the new scheme of things or face the sad option of being phased out.”

On concerns raised by the terminal operators, especially the uncertainties over the delay in renewing the agreements, which might alter investment patterns, the MD admitted that such concerns were germane but insists that the right things must be done first, warning that due diligence, clarity must not be sacrificed at the altar of speed.

While admitting that both the NPA and the terminal operators have concerns over unmet obligations as contained in the old agreement, he assured that all must be resolved before the renewals if any, adding that there could be new investors, depending on the outcome of the review, which is also dependent on the choice of the current concessionaires to continue or exit.