The Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Maritime Branch, has expressed concern about the significant challenges faced by workers of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) due to the recent Post-No-Debit (PND) notice placed on the Authority’s account.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) affiliate group has also called on the government led by President Bola Tinubu to address the issue, as it is impacting port operations nationwide.
Comrade Akinola Bodunde, the union President, addressed newsmen on Tuesday, stating that the policy is causing numerous difficulties for the agency. He added that some ports are on the verge of experiencing power outages because they cannot afford to purchase diesel to run their generators.
Bodunde remarked, “The imposition of Post-No-Debit on our account is adversely affecting the workers. Currently, diesel has run out, but there are insufficient funds to buy more. Some ports are without electricity as we speak. No payments are being made.
The NPA headquarters in Marina cannot transfer funds to the ports due to this policy, resulting in some ports lacking electricity at the moment. The Post-No-Debit was authorized by the office of the Accountant General, but the NPA management is actively addressing the situation.”
The union also opposed the proposal by the Federal Ministry of Finance to halve the revenue of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). SSASCGOC emphasized that if the policy is implemented, the Authority will have to carry out all its functions, including dredging, salary payments, allowances, payment for ancillary services to contracted companies, and maintenance of all its offices nationwide, from the 50 percent of its retained revenue.
Comrade Akinola Bodunde condemned the Ministry of Finance’s suggestion, stating that the remaining revenue would not be sufficient to carry out the agency’s statutory functions efficiently. He argued that NPA, with its various ventures, would struggle to service all its subordinate ventures adequately.
Bodunde called on the federal government to reconsider and allow the port authority to maintain a 70-30 percentage arrangement, highlighting that the responsibilities placed on the NPA are overwhelming. He lamented that if the policy is allowed to stand, it would negatively impact the operations of NPA and the ports nationwide.
He said, “We are objecting to the directive from the Minister of Finance that the ministry will take 50 percent of the revenue generated by NPA in a year. This is unacceptable.
Every year, money is allocated for dredging in dollars. We have partnerships with other organizations, such as INTELS, LTT, MARPOL, and towage in the East, in Lekki, and so on, which are funded from our annual revenue.
Currently, urgent action is needed for the bad quay apron, and the management is planning to rehabilitate all the ports because they are old. Comparing them with newer ports like Lekki or PTML is not fair.
If these issues are not urgently addressed by the government, the unions may be compelled to shut down operations nationwide,” Bodunde expressed.
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