The former chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation, Njida Gella Ahmed, has said that the port concession programme of theFederal Government, which resulted in the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), handing over the terminals to private operators without an enabling law should be taken as a learning process.

But he noted that operators who have not added value to port operations would have their licence revoked and the terminal re-advertised for better investors to come and invest.

The former committee chairman was reacting to insinuations that the committee, which carried out a fact finding mission to the ports last April, only blew hot air without any action.

This was because since the committee, which has been dissolved along with other House Committees, has been silent about its discovery in the fact finding mission.

It would be recalled that members of the committee visited the ports in Lagos and Port Harcourt to assess the concession of the ports during which they frowned at the manner it was carried out without a legal framework thereby making the entire exercise illegal.

They blew hot air then and made so much fuss about the issue that one of the managing directors of one of the companies shed tears apparently because of fear of losing the terminal.

However, Ahmed told Daily Independent that the house would support the companies that have added value to their operational areas since they took over in spite of the toga of illegality hanging on the concession exercise.

According to Ahmed, "NPA had no right to concession the port for up to five years but they did for even 25 years outside the legal framework. They abused the law by going ahead with the exercise. But we would now support those terminals that are doing well because we take the whole thing as a learning process. Honestly, some, like APM Terminals, Greenview Development Company and ENL Consortium are doing well."

"We would soon submit our report when we resume. Those not doing well would have their own revoked and re-advertised for better investors to come and invest. Josepdam is the worst because they have not been doing anything. Being a terminal managed by a woman, we expected her to perform better than others but nothing has been done. It will definitely be revoked," he said.