The Nigerian  Ports Authority (NPA) has offered clarifications to the Senate Committee on Public Accounts on the debt sum of N1 billion, which the committee queried in the report of the Auditor General of the Federation.

Its clarification also extended to the $852,093,731.10 cited in the Auditor General of the Federation’s report being circulated in the media, even as it explained that a total of $232,354,156.43 out of the sum had been recovered.

Managing Director of the NPA, Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko, who appeared before the Committee said that the House Committee on Public Accounts had, in the 9th Assembly, thoroughly verified the money and had given the Authority a clean bill of health.

Bello-Koko explained that the misunderstanding between the position of the Senate and House of Representatives Public Accounts Committees arose from the continuous repetition of sums dating back to the period before the year 2006 Concession of the Authority, which the current NPA Management had already accounted for but the sums had yet to be expunged from its books.

He said, “Most of the debts date back decades. I mean legacy debts from companies like Nigerian National Shipping Line Ltd and from pre- concession period.

“But we have been carrying these debts in our books and we have been impairing the amounts, thereby making provisions for all such debts. We have written to Auditor-General of the Federation on the procedure to take them out of our books and solicited for the support of the Senate Committee in this regard.”

Bello-Koko assured the Senate Committee on Public Accounts that “In the spirit of public accountability, we will always be open to give account.”

On the debt he explained that the figures included estate rents, lease fees and throughput charges among others as stipulated in the Concession Agreements.

According to him, “The debts date back to the period 2006 to 2019,” adding that “There have been recoveries within the period under review, and they are unrecoverable debts owing to issues such as Volume Change, Gross Minimum Tonnage (GMT)/Penalties, Encumbered Areas. etc.”

Bello-Koko disclosed that the management of the Authority, in a concerted effort to correct the anomalies as seen in the concession agreements, engaged the World Bank to provide consultancy services for its review while an inter-agency committee comprising NPA, FMOT, FMOJ, BPE and ICRC developed a template to address the inherent anomalies in the agreements that allowed for the accumulation of such debts and to forestall a recurrence.”

“This has resulted in the signing of a supplemental concession/legal agreements which will come into  effect shortly,” he added.