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Intels: We acted in accordance with the constitution

By Editor
14 October 2017   |   4:24 am
NPA says they therefore proceeded to act as advised, which is to terminate the contract, saying no organisation is above the constitution and it is only when all obey the laws that everyone benefits.

Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala Usman

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has said they did nothing wrong in respect to Intels Nigeria Limited just as the firm has threatened to fight the recent termination of its boats pilotage monitoring and supervision agreement.

NPA went on to say that they relied on the advice of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, in arriving at the decision to terminate the contract, after more than a year of attempts to get Intels to comply with the Federal Government’s directive on the Treasury Single Account (TSA)

“The first such correspondence was through a letter written by the former Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Olumide Oduntan on June 28, 2016 directing the company to pay all revenues collected on behalf of the NPA into the TSA sub account at the CBN. All further attempts by the Authority to get the company to obey was met with excuses until the Authority wrote to seek the AGF’s legal advise on how to proceed with the NPA/Intels relationship in a letter dated May 31, 2017”.

The legal advice contained in a September 27, 2017 letter addressed to the MD of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, by the AGF and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami expressly stated, “The agreement for the monitoring and supervision of pilotage districts in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Nigeria on terms inter alia that permits Intels to receive revenue generated in each pilotage district from service boat operations in consideration for 28% of total revenue as commission to Intels is void, being a contract ex facie illegal as formed for permitting Intels to receive federal government revenue contrary to the express provisions of Sections 80(1) and 162(1) and (10) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which mandates that such revenue must be paid into the Federation Account/Consolidated Revenue Fund.

“In the premise of the above, the conflict between the agreement and the TSA policy presents a force majeure event under the agreement, and NPA should forthwith commence the process of issuing the relevant notices to Intels exiting the agreement which indeed was void ab initio.”

NPA says they therefore proceeded to act as advised, which is to terminate the contract, saying no organisation is above the constitution and it is only when all obey the laws that everyone benefits.

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