Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Archives

Victoria Ogunrinde, Abuja

The Minister of Transportation, Rt Hon Rotimi Amaechi has directed contractors handling the Lekki Deep Seaport Project to complete the work latest December 2022.

Amaechi stated this on Friday during the Executive session of the 16th National Council on Transportation, held in Kano.

The Minister expressed worry over the delay of the project stated that the project was scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

According to him, “I have given them till December 2022 to deliver the project for commissioning. The NPA should follow up on this and make sure we meet that target.”

Meanwhile, Amaechi announced the completion of the National Freight Office (NFO) in Illela, Sokoto State, a pilot scheme which is being replicated in Jibiya, Katsina State and Idiroko, Ogun State.

Similarly, he recognised the achievements made by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), including the take-off of the Deep Blue project, with all assets, vessels, aircrafts and other gadgets acquired.

He also recognised the Ministry’s achievements in the Rail transport sector and the efforts of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), particularly with the Lekki deep seaport and efforts in decongesting Apapa Port.

He also expressed satisfaction that the work at Dala Inland Dry Port is progressing, as well as the primary school he mandated the contractor to build in the area.

“The last time I visited the site, many children were following us all the way into the Dala Dry port. Those were obviously out of school children, and I asked the contractor to build a primary school there and offer free education to the children in that area. The Permanent Secretary has briefed me that the school is now under construction”.

When we come for commissioning, we will commission both the school and the dry port. And it is not enough to commission the school, so we will not commission the dry port, nor the school, except we see teachers and the children in the school. The last time I was there, the contractor assured me that it will be completed by December,” Amaechi said.

He urged all sectors to work towards attracting private investors – local and foreign, to fast-track the growth of the nation’s economy and closing the transport infrastructural gaps in the country, while thanking the Kano state government for their magnanimity in hosting the 2021 National Council on Transportation.

The shake up followed an alleged memo by the minister for the suspension of Hadiza Bala Usman who this platform learnt was lobbying for second tenure behind the back of the supervising Minister of the Agency.

Meanwhile, President Muhammed Buhari has approved the appointment of Mohammed Koko as the acting Managing Director of NPA, to replace Hadiza Bala Usman. Until his new post, Koko held fort as Director of Finance in the organisation.

Aso Rock sources informed Us that her suspension was approved by the President following the recommendation of Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation.

However, sources in government disclosed that she might have lost out over her second term ambition that she bulldozed through in a clandestine manner inimical to due process.

They pointed out that although Hadiza secured her first tenure appointment in July 2016, she got close confidants of Buhari, including the Chief of Staff, to pressure him into rolling her over for a second term, which he did in January 2021, six whole months before her first term lapsed.

When Amaechi got wind of this clandestine move, he drew the President’s attention to this anomaly, additionally pointing out that he, as Hadiza’s supervising Minister, never recommended her for tenure elongation.

Moreover, the Minister ordered a probe into her administration at NPA, which made astounding discoveries of fraud and financial misappropriation directly indicting her office.

Moreover, her style of running NPA affairs dripped with insubordination as she essentially shielded its affairs from the supervising Ministry of Transportation.

An independent probe ordered by the President confirmed all the allegations.

Embarrassed at this development, the President promised to redress the situation.

Coincidentally, a formal letter had not been issued for her second tenure expected to commence in July 2021.

From that point on, serving her the Red Card was a matter of time and it happened on Thursday.

Not only did she fail to get the second tenure she lobbied so hard for, technically, she did not even finish her first tenure, officially lapsing in July 2021.

A former Chief of Staff to Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna her home state (2015), Hadiza had been a key figure in the Bring-Back-Our-Girls Movement and was first appointed NPA Managing Director in 2016.

She is also a founding member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)

Amaechi order Contractors to Complete Lekki Deep Seaport Project latest 2022

The Nigeria Port Authority MD and CEO, Hadiza Bala Usman has been sacked, all thanks to the Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi.

The shake up followed an alleged memo by the minister for the suspension of Hadiza Bala Usman who this platform learnt was lobbying for second tenure behind the back of the supervising Minister of the Agency.