Date Published: 11/07/10

FG Audit Plan: Fear grips Saraki, Ibori's cronies in NPA, NIMASA
…Minister wants them sacked!

Suleiman Mohammed, Minister for Transport

The Federal government’s determination to take a cursory look into the books and activities of Ministries and Agencies of government has now created palpable fears in some Agencies and Parastatals of the Ministry of Transport.

Particularly, officials of the Nigeria Port Authority, NPA, led by Abdulsalam Muhammed, a crony of Governor Bukola Saraki, a Presidential aspirant of the Peoples’ Democratic party, PDP and Temisan Omatseye, who heads the Nigeria Maritime and Safety Agency, NIMASA, a crony of fugitive James Ibori, are said to have deserted their offices to lobby top Presidential aides to retain their positions.

Both men, sources hinted are said to have used their positions to siphon Billions of naira which are said to have been traced to some politicians opposed to the Presidential aspiration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Pointblanknews.com had reported how the Managing Director of NIMASA, Mr. Omatseye, embarked on a large scale contract jamboree to cronies and lobbyists who were mandated to pile pressure on President Goodluck Jonathan to stave off his sack.

Mohammed and Omatseye who both head NPA and NIMASA have now resorted to reaching out to top politicians using award of contracts to keep their jobs.

However, in a memo written by the Minister for Transport, Mr. Yusuf Suleiman to President Goodluck Jonathan dated 4 June, 2010 and exclusively obtained by Pointblanknews.com, the Minister asked for the sacking of the NPA leadership describing it as “inept, lack focus and does not have the will to check the excesses of the conflict of interest in their dealings.”

The Minister who called for a total reorganization of the NPA, the Minister noted that as at 2010, the NPA is currently implementing 2008 appropriation with huge operational deficit and in total non-compliance of the 2009 budget.

“It is therefore strongly canvassed that for our port to be competitive and to arrest the current drift, the Executive Management should be reconstituted to re-engineer the port reform processes to meet the government aspirations as well as conform with the international best practices especially International Maritime Organization, IMO…,” the memo to the President said.

Mr. Suleiman in the memo recalled that the Ministry on May 24, 2010 had to swiftly intervene on a prolonged dispute between the management of NPA and the various associations of Freight Forwarders in what would have resulted in a nationwide strike in all the ports in Nigeria.

In the memo to the President, the Minister said the complaint against the leadership of the NPA by the Freight Forwarders is “legendary,” adding that “today, the NPA is operating like no one is in charge there and the effect is telling on the industry.”

On NIMASA, the Minister lampooned the appointment of Omatseye whom he described as lacking the requisite credential to head a technical agency such as NIMASA.

According to the Minister’s memo, “NIMASA as you may recall has the mandate to implement maritime policies contained in the relevant Act of Parliament. Due to the technical nature of the contents of these Acts, it is imperative that the top echelon of those charged to implement them must be well grounded, knowledgeable and have cognate experiences in Maritime Administration practices with requisite qualification in maritime technology, finance, law and mechanics of sea transportation.

The Minister regretted that the appointment of the current Executive Management Team is not in conformity with this important technical requirement, adding that “in view of the critical role the Agency is expected to play in the sustenance and advancement of Mr. President’s reform agenda in the transport sector, the emphasis on maritime sub-sector, the importance of having a new Executive Management Team, headed by an acclaimed, tested and trusted hand that is professionally sound, highly experienced and technically proficient cannot be overemphasized.”