9 months ago
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Managing Director, NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Mohammed Bello-Koko, has blamed the lack of adequate functioning of the nation’s ports on weak and defective facilities.
The NPA boss stated this on Thursday in Abuja while defending the 2024 budget estimates of the agency.
According to him, NPA is projecting about N629.89bn revenue in 2024 while looking forward to a N200 bn loan from Afrexime Bank and the United Kingdom Export Finance.
He listed the defects to include “The quay wall, replacement of old gravity walls, and the rehabilitation of Escravos breakwaters.”
He said, “The total projected expenditure is N464.32 bn, while the operating expenses are projected at N212.03 bn, and the capital expenditure stands at N252.29 bn.
“Part of the main thrust of the 2024 budget of the NPA is the urgent need to rehabilitate, reconstruct, and moderate the dilapidated port infrastructure.”
The budget, he added, is targeted at improving port efficiency and increasing cargo traffic through investment funding from the financiers, UKEF and Afriexim.
The Chairman, House Committee on Ports and Harbours, Nnolin Nnaji, described NPA as an important agency to the Federal Government, noting that the committee would need to visit some of the facilities outside Lagos State.
He said: “We need to see those things you are telling us. The House of Representatives is very serious about budget defence, while they do screening on the other side.
“I believe in the subsequent budget, the MD would do better. We accept this budget, and we will move further with it.”
The committee also said the drainage channels were full of wreckage, expressing worry over a lack of information on wreckage removal.
The committee said that as long as the NPA avoids the wreckage, it will keep occurring because of the abandoned ships, urging the agency to address it.
