Reps quiz NPA over sale of 16 vessels at N156m

An ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives is quizzing the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) over the sale of 16 vessels for N156.24 million in 2019.

Among the vessels were ML Pategi sold at N3.2 million; ML Misau sold at N1.06 million; PB Kabba sold at N5.4 million; SPB 3 sold at N54,000; and PC Shelleng sold at N48,000.

Documents before the committee also showed that NPA sold exotic vehicles like Ranger Pick-Up, Toyota Coaster Buses, Toyota Corolla cars, Toyota Hiace buses, Toyota Camry Salon Cars, among others at cheap prices.

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The documents equally indicated that NPA sold 45 million other items at the Apapa Port, Lagos in 2022 at N1 each, thereby collecting N45 million after the sales.

The property was sold through an invoice dated Aug. 9, 2022.

The NPA also sold 10,800,700 other items at its Apapa Dockyard in 2021 also at the rate of N1 each, netting N10.800 million in the process.

The documents further showed that NPA sold 20 million scrap metals at the Kirikiri Terminal II, Apapa, at N1 each, thereby netting N20 million also.

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Prof Julius Ihonvbere, chairman of the committee adjourned sitting on Wednesday to Sept. 25 to enable NPA officials to prepare answers to questions posed at them.

The officials were directed to bring along with them list of properties slated for auctioning and evaluation reports on the adjourned date.

Ihonvbere said the NPA officials should also present the committee with the names of registered property valuers involved in the transactions.

The officials were also directed to present the valuers’ reports and government approval for the sale of the property from the office of Bureau of Public Procurement.

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The officials were also directed to present Certificates of No Objection to the sales by appropriate government agencies and evidence of remittances of accrued revenue into Federal Government’s coffers.

Ihonvbere also told the NPA officials to present bidding procedures, newspaper publications, selection and every other document that could assist the committee in its investigation.

The committee’s job is to unravel the extent of the illegal auctioning of public property, the non-remittance of revenue realized into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government from 2010 to 2022. (NAN)