- NPA Rakes in N3b From Calabar Port in Three Months
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) raked in about N3 billion from Calabar Port in three months, it was learnt.
The amount was realised between January and March this year.
Speaking at the weekend, a senior official of the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF), who craved anonymity, said the revenue excluded terminal operators’ huge debts to the NPA.
According to the official, the NPA generated over $3.3 million and over N176 million from the Calabar Port within the period.
The NPA, the official said, also collected over $3.3 million and over N77 million as revenue from the port during the same period.
Investigation revealed that the NPA generated $697,001 and N63,604,478 in January this year, and collected $1,500,340 and N10,736,116 during the same period.
In February, findings revealed that the agency generated $1,162,050 and N73,348,301. It also collected $834,593 and N30,332,126 during the same month.
The NPA, it was gathered, generated $1,501,922 and N38,125,608 in March, and collected $1,476,840 and 36,402,244 in the first quarter of the year.
The agency, the FMoF official said, was able to generate the amount because of the policies adopted by its Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman.
“When we looked at the dollar amount generated and collected at the Calabar port by the NPA, we discovered that it was over $6.6 million. NPA also raked in over N254 million during the first three months of this year.
“We are happy that the management of NPA has put the Calabar Port to good use to boost the economy.
“We, in the Ministry of Finance, sincerely appreciate the relentless efforts of Ms Hadiza Bala Usman and her management team in restructuring the organisation, which has assisted in achieving optimal operational efficiency in the ports and boosted government revenue,” the official said.
The NPA, he said, generated about N3 billion from Calabar port during the same period.
“We learnt that the serene environment created by Ms Usman and enjoyed by stakeholders attracted more importers and increased ship traffic to the Rivers port. This led NPA to more revenue generation for the Federal Government.
“Her robust policy has also led to the move from the long-standing International Ship and Facility Security (ISPS) Code level 2, to the current level 1. We were told that she also instructed all her port managers to maintain a cordial relationship with stakeholders and the host communities.
“Considering the directive by Ms Usman and her team on training and retraining of members of staff on the E-Service, such as E-SEN, Revenue Invoicing Management System ( RIMS), Customers Potal and E- Manifest, the NPA management has brought prospect to potential port users, stakeholders and operators,’’ the official said.
