Suspended managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Hadiza Usman has countered claim by minister of transportation Rotimi Amaechi that the yearly remittance of operating surpluses by the agency from 2016 to 2020 was “far short of the amount due for actual remittance.”
In a letter dated March 4, 2021 sent to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Amaechi said the NPA had an outstanding unremitted balance of N165 billion (N165, 320, 962, 697) from 2016 to 2020.
The former Rivers State governor thereafter suggested that the financial account of the NPA be investigated and audited.
In her response addressed to the president’s chief of staff Ibrahim Gambari dated May 5, 2021, Usman argued that the basis for arriving at the operating surplus of the NPA, upon which the budget office calculated the amount due as remittances to the federation account, was flawed and not in tune with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
She said the figures provided by the budget office as the operating surplus for 2017 and 2018 were higher than the actual figures derived from the NPA’s audited financial statements.
“Audited Financial Statements of the Authority for the period 2017 and 2018 provides operating surpluses of N76.782 billion and N71.480 billion for 2017 and 2018 respectively, as contrary to the sums of N133.084 billion and N88.79 billion arrived at by tour office from the budgetary submission,” she wrote.
Usman said in line with the template of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, the “accessible operating surplus” stood at N51.09 billion and N42.51 billion for the respective years. From there, due remittances (80 per cent of the amounts) to the government account stood at N40.873 billion and N34.065 billion respectively.
The NPA paid in N42.415 billion and N33.969 billion for the two years, she said.
For 2019 and 2020, Usman said the NPA was awaiting the approval of its board of the agency’s audited accounts to determine the amount to remit for the two years. In the meantime, she said NPA paid N31.683 billion and N51.049 billion for both years respectively.
Usman’s suspension was announced by presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu on Wednesday amid allegations of witch-hunting.
Prior to Usman’s suspension, the Ministry of Transportation in a letter signed by permanent secretary Magdalene Ajani listed five audit firms and requested the auditor-general’s office to approve any of them for an audit of NPA account.
The audit firms listed by the ministry were KPMG Nigeria, Deloitte Nigeria, Price Water House Coopers (PwC), Ernest and Young Nigeria and McKinsey and Company.
The auditor-general Adolphus Aghughu, however, in a letter dated April 16, notified the transport ministry that the NPA board had engaged Messrs Muhtari Dangana & Co (Chartered Accountants) and SIAO Chartered Accountants as external audit firms.
In the letter which he personally signed, Mr Aghughu added that the said audit firms had indeed audited and published the accounts of NPA in 2016, 2017, and 2018 financial years, and the 2019 audit is ongoing. He added that its office had conducted periodic checks and released appropriate reports on the checks.
Quoting extant laws establishing the NPA and the Nigerian constitution, the auditor-general concluded that “reputable professional audit firms are already being engaged by the Board in line with the enabling Act”. It added that there was “no justification for the Ministry to advertise and select qualified Audit firms to conduct the exercise.”
When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, Usman confirmed that she neither received a query nor a suspension letter. She, however, declined further comments on her ordeal.
Adapted from PREMIUM TIMES
