Seaport operators, others owe NPA N284 billion – MD

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8 years ago

Say’s N19 million trapped in Heritage bank

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Hadiza Bala Usman has revealed that the total debt owed the agency by operators in the nation’s maritime sector and beyond is N284, 950, 000, 000.

Speaking to selected newsmen in Lagos recently (Wednesday evening), Hadiza Usman said that the debt profile includes N10 billion in local currency and $585m in foreign currency accumulated over a period of 10years.

According to her, “Some of these debts have been classified as bad debt, but we need to go through the legal processes to confirm and verify that they are truly bad debt. Some of these debts were accrued by terminal operators. We want to make sure they pay up as soon as possible.

“We also have debts concerning our lease agreements which have accumulated over the years. In some cases, NPA had continued billing for lease agreements even when some of the leasee had not been able to make use of the land due to encumbrances that bother around encroachment and topographical situation.

“However, we have identified all those lease agreements that had been encumbered by encroachment and topography and we will be removing that amount of money that the NPA claims it is being owed. We should not lease lands that are encumbered. The leasee will not pay because they have not been able to take possession of the land they were leased due to these encumbrances.”

On Heritage bank, the NPA boss explained that, “We have some money in Heritage Bank. The bank has paid certain amount of money but we still have up to about $19 million with Heritage Bank.

“We are having meetings with the Central Bank on what we can do to have NPA’s money returned into the coffers of the government. I am sure all of you recall that when we assumed office, we discovered some money in some banks that have not been swept into the Treasury Single Account (TSA). Heritage Bank was one of them. We are still pursuing it and will ensure those monies are paid into government coffers.”