Storm at Ports: NPA Rocked by $25m, N160m Scandals
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has come underneath intense scrutiny following allegations detailing a deep-rooted tradition of corruption, operational inefficiency, and political interference inside the company.
In accordance with insider revelations obtained by Financial Confidential, senior officers on the NPA are allegedly benefiting from a ₦160 million month-to-month “tribute system” – a type of monetised extortion that features inflated contracts and bribery facilitated by top-tier management. These practices, sources declare, have turn out to be entrenched and routine, bleeding the company and driving up operational prices for stakeholders.
Financial Confidential experiences that Nigeria’s ports—as soon as a possible hub of commerce effectivity—have turn out to be a logistical nightmare. Cargo dwell instances reportedly exceed 45 days, whereas the price of hauling containers has skyrocketed from ₦250,000 to a staggering ₦900,000. These developments have positioned Nigerian ports among the many costliest within the West African sub-region, making a aggressive drawback and irritating importers and exporters.
Learn Additionally:
In accordance with the sources, the company can be enmeshed in all manners of appointment and choice scandals. Key officers allegedly keep their positions with none {qualifications} as a consequence of their connections to a minister and a prime aide of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This, sources declare, has stalled investigations and created a local weather of impunity, with supervisory ministries turning a blind eye to mounting considerations.
One of many sources who pleaded anonymity additionally alleged a collapse in inside governance. The Govt Director of Finance is claimed to be working because the de facto Managing Director, sidelining due course of and withholding over 1,000 official information. This focus of energy has reportedly led to unilateral decision-making and a breakdown in checks and balances inside the NPA hierarchy.
One other supply alleged {that a} $25 million dredging contract for Warri Port was awarded with out the constitutionally required approval from the Federal Govt Council (FEC), in what seems to be a brazen violation of Nigeria’s procurement legal guidelines.
Efforts by Financial Confidential to acquire a response from NPA’s spokesperson, Ikechukwu Onyemekara, had been unsuccessful. Regardless of alerting him to the particular allegations, he didn’t reply to a number of requests for remark.
