Petrol Tankers Now to Pay Wharf Fees

• Lagos sacks revenue collector

Ugo Aliogo

Owners of tankers lifting petrol from Lagos ports will henceforth pay wharf landing fees, it was learnt monday.

Their inclusion in the 305 firms in the payment bracket followed the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

The development came after the expiration of a four-month notice served on Messrs M-TOF Consulting Services by the Lagos State government to hands off the collection of wharf landing fees on its behalf.

The State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, who signed the contract termination notice, said the consultant breached certain clauses in the agreement between it and the government.

The notice, served on April 18 and addressed to the Managing Director of the firm, expired on Thursday, last week.
It read: “Your company is hereby given four weeks’ notice of Lagos State government’s intention to terminate the above mentioned contract in line with Clause 22.0 of the executed agreement due to your breach of Clauses 4.6 and 8.3 of the agreement.

“Take notice that the said contract stands terminated four weeks from the receipt of this letter.”
The government has mandated the Lagos State Wharf Landing Fees Collecting Authority to take over the functions of Messrs M-TOF.

Its Chairman, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said the authority has 304 clients in its payment bracket. He gave the breakdown as dry cargo (225), bonded terminals (29) and wet cargo customers (50).

He urged those in the payment bracket to henceforth route their payments to the state government through the authority, using the designated banks.