Leadership (Abuja)
Stanley Yakubu
11 October 2008
The managing director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Alhaji Abdulsalam Mohammed, yesterday admitted that the organisation he heads is not responsible in its financial dealings.
While testifying before the Senate ad-hoc committee investigating the transportation sector on Thursday, the minister of state (water transport), Prince John Okechukwu Emeka, had revealed that the NPA had squandered N537 billion from 1999 to date without due approval from the appropriate authority.
Giving testimony before the ad-hoc committee yesterday, the managing director agreed that the past leadership had been very irresponsible in the manner they handled the finances of the Authority.
The chairman of the committee, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, was told by Alhaji Mohammed that of the total internally generated revenue of over N548 billion, NPA had remitted only N11.6 billion into the federation account during the period under review. Senator Lokpobiri had inquired about the whereabouts of the balance.
And when the managing director could not provide an answer, Lokpobiri noted: "That means you people have been very reckless and irresponsible with public funds."
Replying, Mohammed said: "Mr. Chairman, in this case I agree with you entirely I agree that the NPA has been so irresponsible in the past."
He, however, stated that since he assumed duty as the new chief executive of the Authority he has been trying to turn around things for the better, pointing out that, within the last one year, he remitted over N2.3 billion into the federation account.
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