Hadiza Bala Usman, former managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has opened up on the major issues that led to her ouster by Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation.
Bala-Usman was suspended as NPA’s managing director in 2021, and eventually replaced by Mohammed Bello-Koko in 2022.
Her suspension was recommended by Amaechi who alleged that the agency, under her watch, failed to remit N165 billion operating surplus to the coffers of the federal government.
However, she was exonerated by an administrative panel of inquiry set up to investigate the alleged mismanagement.
Speaking on the troubled times as the agency’s boss in her newly released book, titled, ‘Stepping on Toes: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority’, Bala-Usman said Amaechi wanted her out of NPA because “two of the most important contracts in the authority were due for renewal”.
She accused the minister of demanding “an extension of tenure of the companies providing capital dredging services without due process”.
The ex-NPA boss added that Amaechi also “got approval for the restoration of an expired service boat contract” despite the company’s initial deal being terminated for violation of the federal government treasury single account (TSA) policy.
“At this point, it occurred to me what that stakeholder said about the minister wanting me out of office at the point that two of the most important contracts in the authority were due for renewal. The first of these was the capital dredging contract and the second, was the service boat management contract,” Bala-Usman wrote.
“While the minister demanded an extension of tenure of the companies providing capital dredging services without due process, he got approval for the restoration of an expired service boat contract. He got this even though the company was owing the federal government, had violated the treasury single account policy, and above all, no longer had any contract with the NPA. I thought that his desperation to keep me out of office was to an end.”
In the book she also revealed how the minister attempted to rope her with bogus charges of non-remittance of operating surplus into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, noting that the probe panel at the end of its prolonged investigation never found her wanting.
“On 5 May 2021, I took an early morning flight to Abuja to honour an appointment. The meeting ended early enough for me to catch a 2pm flight back to Lagos. It was at this time that I learnt that the President had approved that I should step aside as MD on the recommendation of the Minister of Transportation.
“On arrival in Lagos, I went to the office at Marina to complete a letter explaining allegations of non-remittance of N165 billion operating surplus to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), which the Minister had made against the NPA to the President.
“Unknown to me, in his determination to get me out of office, Mr. Amaechi had been fishing for a couple of months. In his desperation, he had approached the Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze and obtained details of the NPA’s operating surpluses upon which he apparently arrived at the conclusion that the huge sum of money was unremitted.
“Without raising any queries about the matter with the NA, the Minister wrote to the President informing him of shortfalls in yearly remittance of operating surplus by the NPA between 2016 and 2020.
“He then concluded: In view of the above, I wish to suggest that the financial accounts of the activities of NPA be investigated for the period 2016-2020 to ascertain the true financial position and the outstanding unremitted balance of one hundred and sixty-five billion, three hundred and twenty million, nine hundred and sixty-two thousand, six hundred and Ninety-seven naira only (N165,320,962,697.00).
“He also sought Presidential approval that I ‘step aside from my position as Managing Director during the investigation, and that Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko, Executive Director, Finance and Administration should act as Managing Director in the interim.
“Many Nigerians found the choice of Mr. Bello-Koko contradictory. They argued that as Executive Director, Finance and Administration, he should be found wanting if there are any financial infractions. People also wondered why I was the only one who was asked to ‘step aside, when the probe was purportedly, of the management of the Authority.
“To show that this was a deliberate ploy, the minister did not mention Mr. Bello-Koko’s designation as Executive Director, Finance and Administration in his memo to the President.
“Secondly, he asked in the memo that President Buhari’s approval should be communicated to him through the secretariat of the presidency. This was to ensure that the correspondence did not come to the attention of the Office of the Chief of Staff. The way the Minister went about his mission was curious. To start with, the Budget Office of the Federation was the wrong place to seek information about the frequency and accuracy of remittances from any government agency. The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation was the appropriate place to have sought accurate information.
“I made this point in my letter to the Chief of Staff to the President in addition to providing details of the figures in question and the remittances made so far,” she wrote.
