For failing to carry along the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), the port economic regulatory body, in the ongoing review of port concession agreement with terminal operators, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has been given a knock.
Criticizing NPA in Lagos on Friday when he visited the Shippers Council headquarters in Lagos, the Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, disclosed that requests for concession agreement renewals from NPA had been submitted without verifiable data on the performance of the terminals vis-a-vis the obligations as contained in the initial concession agreement, positing that as the port economic regulator, Shippers Council is best placed to perform this role.
Recall that the former Executive Secretary of Shippers Council, Barr Hassan Bello had in the past severally raised alarm about how the Council was being excluded in the port concession agreement review under the former Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Balls Usman.
Sambo insisted that NPA ought not to have recommended to the Transport Ministry the renewal of the leases and concession for terminal operators without an input from NSC, adding that as port economic regulator, “NSC should provide a comprehensive report detailing the accomplishments of the operators. Do it terminal by terminal. Outline the encumbrances the terminals faced and provide data to measure their performances.”
The minister was of the view that since NSC wasn’t involved in some stages of the concession agreement review, the initial neglect better positions the Council to deliver an independent review of the final outcome of the port concession agreement and recommendation with verifiable data and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the terminal operators.
He hinted that the report of NSC will be attached and forwarded to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for final approval of the concession contracts for terminal operators.