NPA: The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Intervention

Eromosele Abiodun writes that the federal government should heed the call by a former President of Liberia, and maritime sector stakeholders for adherence to the rule of law, fair and equal treatment for the suspended Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, HadizaBala-Usman

Precisely two weeks ago, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi’s two-year plot to shove aside Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman, materialised when President Muhammadu Buhari approved his request to suspend her with immediate effect.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, had said her suspension would allow a panel of inquiry set up by the federal government to investigate the management of the agency to carry out its task without hindrance.

A few days after the suspension was announced, the minister inaugurated a panel to investigate the administrative policies and strategies adopted by the MD of NPA and confirm compliance with extant laws and rules from 2016 till date.

Other terms of reference of the panel are: “Examine and investigate Issues leading to the termination of pilotage and other contracts of Nigerian Ports Authority and confirm compliance with the terms of the respective contracts, court rulings and Presidential directives.

“Examine and investigate compliance with the communication channel as Obtained in the Public Service and examine and investigate the procurement of contracts from 2016 to date.
“Come up with suggestions and advice that would strengthen the operations of NPA and forestall such occurrences in future if any and other matter that the assignment may be necessary in the course of the assignment.”

However, observers have noted that the terms of reference was a major turn as the panel of enquiry which was meant to investigate the alleged shortfall in operating surpluses by the NPA under the leadership of the suspended Bala-Usman, will now probe her for insubordination as against the earlier claim of not remitting operating surplus of N165 billion to the consolidated revenue fund account (CFR).

Johnson Intervention
With Nigerians wondering why someone regarded as the shining light in the Buhari administration would be suspended over unproven allegation of insubordination, a major intervention came from a former Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The former president of Liberia, who expressed sadness over the suspension of the MD of NPA called on the federal government to do the needful in the interest of the country. Johnson, who is the first female president of Liberia, led the country for eight years, from 2008 to 2016.

Commenting via her verified twitter handle, over the weekend, the former president described Bala-Usman as an accomplished leader and a dedicated public servant.
She wrote: “I am disheartened to hear about the suspension of the NPA MD @Hadizabalausman who I have known to be an accomplished leader and dedicated public servant. I urge adherence to the rule of law and fair and equal treatment as the situation evolves.”
It is not just the former Liberian president that is not happy with the maltreatment of Bala-Usman, stakeholders in the nation’s maritime sector have also voiced their concern.

Earlier this week, stakeholders in the nation’s maritime sector lamented the alleged lack of adherence to due process in the suspension of the embattled HadizaBala-Usman.
The stakeholders, who spoke in separate interviews, said the suspension was unjustified, describing it as a setback for women inclusion in the maritime sector. The suspension, they added, could slow down the reforms made so far in the industry.
The stakeholders also opined that the suspended MD should have been giving fair hearing urging that she should not be rubbished out of office for individual political interest.

For instance, the immediate past President of Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA), Mary Hamman, explained that due process ought to have been followed in the suspension of Bala-Usman as Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority.

According to the former WISTA President, “The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi said he is not aware of what is going on in the NPA since 2016, and that is why he set up that 11-man panel. To me, it is good for the suspended MD because if her hands are clean, she will be exonerated. If otherwise, then she will face the music.”

She added: “The only aspect I frown at is her not being queried before getting suspended. I am a retired civil servant and think that in line with civil service rules, she should have been queried first, and allowed to respond to the query before any action will then be taken on her situation.

“They should have followed due process because before you say somebody should go on suspension, she ought to have first being queried and allowed to respond to the query. Her tenure has just being renewed, so without allowing her to know what she has done wrong and even given the opportunity to respond before suspension shows a lack of due process.”

Also speaking on the development, the Coordinator, Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Dr. OsitaChukwu, described the suspension as unjustified.
He said the suspension was a ridicule on the nation’s maritime sector especially now that Nigeria is recording gains among comity of nations due to her reform processes.
Osited posited that Bala-Usman had been making steady progress in the sector and does not deserve such treatment from the Nigerian government, especially when the allegations has not been substantiated.

“If an allegation is made, you should allow the person to defend herself rather than suspending her. This suspension is to ridicule the whole maritime sector. “For me, it’s a very unfortunate situation. We were thinking that NPA has arrived taking cognizance of what the woman is putting in place. She has been the one making moves to reform the industry.

“A lot of things that were not done before now were now being done, take for example, the automation and seamless operations of the NPA. If they just push her out like that, I see a setback to the reforms. Despite several intimidations, she has continued with her work. Even during the EndSars protest, she did not relent, only for her to be rewarded this way, ”he said.

Also speaking, the President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Increase Uche, said Bala-Usman’s removal was a setback to campaign for women inclusion in government and the maritime industry in particular.

Binta Garba’s Allegation
As the international community and maritime stakeholders were showing support for Bala-Usman, a senator representing Adamawa North and former board member of NPA, Binta Garba came up with an allegation that Bala-Usman influenced her removal as a board member of the NPA after she demanded financial transparency.
But Bala-Usman, in a statement described Garba’s comments as “spurious and unproved allegations.”

“Apart from the fact that Senator Binta Garba really said nothing substantial, making only spurious, unproved allegations in the statement she issued on Sunday, she also gave herself away as coming to the board of the NPA to lend herself to the agency of destabilisation rather than contribute to its development.

“As I say with all emphasis that her allegations of resistant to inquiries on the finances of the NPA are false. I make bold to say that Authority has since 2016, openly exhibited its readiness to be held to public scrutiny by taking the following steps: ‘Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with BUdgit Open Budget System Platform and Implementation of a Public Data Dissemination programme; “Publishing the tariff regime of the Authority on the website for the whole world to see in line with the vision of transparency and accountability.

“Conducting the statutory Audit of the backlog of Authority’s financial statements for 2013-2016 and presenting same for approval and submission to the appropriate quarters.

She said the NPA under her leadership engaged international renowned auditing firms for the audit of NPA’s financial statements up until 2019 with full compliance to all Nigerian laws and the International Financial Reporting Standards.

“The 2020 financial statement is currently being audited.There are a few questions to ask the Senator: When the Auditors presented the financial statement to the finance committee of which she was a member, did she seek clarifications on areas that seemed opaque or suspicious? If she did what happened? If she was not satisfied with the answers provided by the Auditors, why did she not consider withholding assent to the statement? Why did she not formally document her discontent? Why did she not issue a minority opinion on the statement, instead of now speaking after the fact?

“All said and done, while I concede to Senator BintaGarba’s right to whatever opinion she desires concerning our relationship when she was a board member, I remind her that those who allow themselves to be used to malign innocent people have their own days of reckoning waiting for them.”
Bala-Usman refuted allegations that she resisted inquiries into the finances of NPA.

Obeying Court Orders
Apart from the Adamawa Senator, an online platform had also made allegation that the NPA under Bala-Usman disobeyed court orders in matters involving Logistics Services Limited (INTELS).

But Bala-Usman in a statement, she said neither herself nor the NPA disobeyed any court order in matters involving INTELS or any other company for that matter.
The report, she said, is laden with falsehood adding that the online platform is sold to mischief such that no matter how many times, clarifications are made on any of the issues with which they play sensational journalism, they would continue to pretend like the facts were never in the public space.

According to her, “Although the story claimed that the alleged frustration was meted out to contractors, it had no other instance to cite than the already overstated and repeatedly explicated case of INTELS.
“As a corollary to this, there was no court order existing at the time of the expiration of the boat pilotage contract between the NPA and INTELS by on August 8, 2020.”

This is just as she disclosed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is currently working on recovering all federal government funds that INTELS have withheld over the years.
She clarified that no INTELS contract with NPA was terminated contrary to claims by the online platform.

“For the records, INTELS was engaged as managing agents of the NPA for oil industry related activities in the compulsory pilotage district within the Exclusive Economic Zone of Nigeria. This contract commenced in June 2007 with a review of an extension of 10 years in 2011 to culminate in August 2020.

The Authority had in 2017, served INTELS with a notice of termination for its refusal to comply with the Treasury Single Account policy of the Federal Government. Following the receipt of the termination notice, the company complied with the Policy. A supplemental agreement was signed to recognise the compliance to TSA and the notice of termination was accordingly withdrawn,”she explained.

She added that in compliance with the Public Procurement Act, the NPA in December 2019 initiated a public tender process in anticipation of the expiration of the contract in August 2020.
This, she added, was for the appointment a contractor to provide the NPA with the service.

“INTELS, alongside other companies submitted bids to qualify for the tender in line with the criteria spelled out in the public advert. INTELS violated one of the criteria advertised for the tender process and was accordingly disqualified.
“The tender process proceeded accordingly and the companies that scored the highest were prequalified. The outcome of the transparent tender process was forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Transportation for onward transmission to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for its consideration,” she said.

Upon disqualification from the tender process, she said INTELS initiated a court action to prevent the NPA from proceeding with the tender process citing a debt owed one of their sister companies, Deep Offshore Nigerian Ltd for the development of Onne 4B.

“This is an amortization project which payment should be derived from the revenue raised from this service. There was no provision in the contract to the effect that INTELS must be the company carrying out the boat pilotage contract, but they have continued to hold the country to ransom for through this court case.

She added, “It should also be noted that despite court case, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is currently working on recovering all Federal Government funds that the INTELS have withheld over the years. One would expect an organisation, which claims to fight corruption like the online platform to join hands in the elimination of all forms all illegality rather than this tacit approval.

“All the NPA tried to do was to see that INTELS and indeed no other business entity contravenes the laws of the country or the provisions of their contract.”
The online medium, she said, has continued to use its platform to tell Nigerians half-truths and outright lies, “about this situation with the false narratives, which are aimed at anything but the interest of the good people of Nigeria.”