By Emma Agu
Of all the conspiracy theories that have been woven around the legitimate effort of the Senate to unravel the mystery surrounding the alleged disappearance of 282 maritime vessels at our ports, none has excited my attention as much as that of the Daily Sun columnist, Majeed Dahiru. Writing in Daily Sun newspaper of August 11, 2017, under the title: “Conflict of Interest as Sen. Uzodinma probes NPA,” his central thesis is that it is unethical for the chairman of the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs, Senator Hope Uzodinma, to preside over the joint committee investigating the allegation. He supports the view by the fact that a company, Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited in which Uzodinma is currently engaged in a dispute with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and, therefore, should excuse himself from the probe.
From his narrative, you are left with the impression that the NPA had, indeed, blacklisted Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited before it was given a lease of life by President Goodluck Jonathan. We shall return to that shortly. For now, let us address the issue of Uzodinma’s moral standing in the matter of the 282 missing vessels. To be sure, it is morally offensive to be a judge in your own case. However, in the instant case of the 282 vessels, Uzodinma cannot be said to be a party to the case. By the way, except by way of being chairman of a joint Senate committee, neither Dahiru nor the NPA managing director has produced incontrovertible evidence that Senator Uzodinma blew the whistle on the practice, whereby shippers and importers colluded to shortchange the Federal Government of huge sums of money, now totalled at N30 trillion.
As the old saying goes, a clear conscience fears no accusation. To that extent, Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman has nothing to worry about if the missing vessels saga is just a smokescreen by the senator to distract attention from the Calabar Channel Management issue and to get even with her. Unfortunately, the attempt by Ms. Usman to sweep the missing vessels saga under the carpet was recently given thumbs down by no less a person than the president of Nigerian Shippers Association, Lagos State, Rev. Jonathan Nicol.
According to Nicol, the practice had been on for a long time. Worse still, the association’s effort to meet with the NPA chief executive on the matter had been stonewalled, hence he threw his weight behind the Senate investigation. But that is contrary to the narrative by the NPA, which suggested that there were no missing vessels; rather, Senator Uzodinma has simply stirred a storm in a teacup to witch-hunt Usman.
That is as far as blackmail can go. At any rate, it has become fashionable to demonise the National Assembly and paint members as a bunch of leeches whose only interest is to suck the treasury dry. They have been described in the most denigrating expletives as if actors in the executive branch are all saints. Yet, as far as the matter of Uzodinma versus Usman goes, it will be a sad development the day all senators are excluded from the oversight responsibilities simply because they have interests outside of the legislature.
As it stands, even going by Dahiru’s narrative, it cannot justify the conclusion that the legislature is out to mortgage public interest on the altar of the personal interests of members. Time and again, disputes arise over contractual agreements. Definitely, that has been the case with respect to the Calabar Channel Management project. That was why the NPA set up an internal investigation panel to guide the company in resolving the dispute. That panel was headed by Prof. Idris Abubakar, executive director (E & TS) of the NPA. The panel ascertained and concluded on the scope of work that was done. It also recommended that the outstanding bill be settled.
For the avoidance of doubt, let me reproduce the relevant recommendations, number iii of the section on recommendations. It states: “Having verified volumes dredged, all outstanding payments to CCML should be effected in line with the provisions of the JV Agreement.” (Emphasis mine). Is it not obvious that the position of the managing director of NPA, which forms the basis of Dahiru’s argument is patently unsupportable? The managing director of NPA should tell the public what she has done with that report, unless, perhaps, newspaper stories to that effect are wrong.
Besides, the argument that the project did not follow laid down procedures is debatable because a ‘No Objection Certificate’ issued by the BPP is already in the public domain. Or is NPA suggesting that that document is not genuine? Even if there were discrepancies in the process, should we throw the baby away with the bath water in a situation that the NPA’s internal panel has ascertained that work was, indeed, done? I strongly believe that the panel was guided by this consideration when it stated in recommendation iv, and I quote: “That in view of the subsisting Presidential approval for the JV, CCML be allowed to continue with its operation but at a reduced scale to be determined by the Authority’s needs and CCML’s Board Technical and Finance Committees.” (Emphasis mine).
First, if the work of CCML and by extension Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited is unsatisfactory, it is doubtful that a committee of the NPA comprising members of its top management would recommend that it be allowed to continue with the work. Second, the panel recognises that it will be a bad decision to throw the baby away with the bath water, that is, if it is accepted that the procedure was flouted.
One is tempted that Ms. Usman is dragging everybody into this avoidable conundrum, to the extent that in one embarrassing intervention on her behalf, notable social critic and former governor of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Umar, went as far as claiming that Senator Uzodinma was the owner of Masters Energy Commodities Trading Company Ltd (which is false) and that Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited was incorporated in 2014 for the sole purpose of the Calabar Channel Management (which is also false). For crying out loud, there should be a limit to obfuscation, whereby national interest and transparency are pleaded as dubious alibi for self-serving schemes.
LAST LINE: Thank God the President is back. May God continue to keep him in good health and grant him all the wisdom to steer the affairs of our country. Please say Amen. AMEN.
• Agu, former Managing Director of Champion Newspapers, write from Abuja.