The House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Accounts, has ordered the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) to immediately call a meeting with firms operating Nigeria’s ports to determine their actual indebtedness to the Federal Government.
The development becomes necessary due to an audit query issued by the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation claims that 18 port terminal operators had failed to remit total sums of $753m and N1.61bn to the government.
Chairman of the committee, Oluwole Oke, thereby ordered the reconciliation meeting at an investigative hearing after one of the terminal operators listed by the NPA as one of the debtors denied owing $4.04m.
Oke said the Bureau for Public Enterprises and some of the committee members should be part of the meeting.
“I want Nigerians to understand why we invited private companies. Ordinarily, we have no business with private companies. The Auditor General for the Federation indicted terminal operators for being indebted to the Nigerian Ports Authority.
“We invited the NPA and they have made their submission and gave us their breakdown of what the terminal operators owes them and that they tried severally to recover the money. For fair hearing, we have invited you because we cannot shave your hair in your absence. That is why we had to invite you so that we can hear your side your side of the story because we are at a crossroads.” said the lawmaker..
