The Hadiza Bala Usman-led Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has revoked the land lease agreement it entered with the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL) over breach of terms at Tarkwa Bay, near Light House Beach in Lagos.
LADOL is said to have shortchanged the Federal Government by subleasing 11.2426 hectares of land out of the total 121 hectares leased to it at a huge amount of money without recourse to NPA.
The firm was alleged to have collected $45 million (N16.2billion) from Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria Limited (SHIN) for the 11.2426 hectares of land for which it paid only $524,105 (N37.73 million) to NPA.
ThisDay said on Sunday that it obtained verified documents which showed that whereas the NPA charged GRML a rent of $104,821.95 per year for five years on 11.2426 hectares for the head lease, GRML charged the sublease (SHI) $9 million per year for five years for the same portion of land, collecting a total of $45million.
The newspaper said LADOL’s spokesman, Kunle Kalejaiye, when contacted said he was not authorised to speak on the matter, adding that it is being debated in court.
ThisDay also said the documents showed that GRML was on January 1, 2003, initially granted a 21-year lease over 80 hectares of land at Takwa Bay by the NPA. Another lease of an adjoining 34 hectares was subsequently granted, bringing the lease area to 114 hectares.
A recent survey, however, showed that the total lease area is now 121 hectares.
In a letter dated November 22, 2013, GRML applied to NPA to sublease 11.246 hectares out of the 121 hectares (nine per cent) to MCI-SHI FZE for the purpose of expanding facilities at LADOL Offshore Support Facility in readiness to handle the integration of the Egina FPSO onshore in Nigeria for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Total Upstream Nigeria.
According to the firm, the expansion would create more jobs and expand trade in the country.
GRML, in the letter, pleaded with the NPA to approve the sublease so that SHIN would not cancel the project and use its existing facility in Goje, South Korea for the entire Egina project.
A letter dated March 12, 2014 contained NPA’s conditional approval for the sublease.
The newspaper further reported that NPA became suspicious following GRML’s inability to provide the sublease agreement between it and SHIN throughout the tenor of the sublease.
LADOL eventually provided the agreement in August 2019 following a warning letter from NPA dated June 18, 2019.
NPA has also terminated another sublease agreement between the parties, which was dated September 13, 2013, as it did not get approval provided in the head lease agreement.
The Authority revoked the land lease agreement with GRML in a letter dated November 14, 2019 and granted it a fresh lease under new terms, which excludes the 11.2426 hectares that constitute the premises of the fabrication and integration yard.
It also leased the 11.2426 hectares to SHIN at $219,700.00 per year.
