The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has stated that debts owed by some operators in the maritime industry from 2004 till date amounts to about $420.5 million.
This was dosclosed by its Director General , Dr. Dakuku Peterside during an engagement with the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration in Abuja.
Refuting the claim that the agency was owed monies in excess of $10 billion, Peterside said it was not correct given that the freight element of shipping trade in the last four years is not up to $10billion.
According to him, “the entire freight element of shipping trade in Nigeria in the last four years is less than $10bilion”.
In response to a petition received by the Committee purporting that the agency had engaged a consultant to assist in recovering its money without following due process, the Director General told the committee that due process was followed in selecting the consultant as the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) had also issued a Certificate of No Objection for the purpose.
Peterside, who noted that the agency has been making concerted efforts to recover these monies with little success, also said that this necessitated the management, utilising international best practices, to employ the services of a consultant to assist in recovering these funds.
Recall that the agency had engaged the services of Messrs Snecou Financial Services Company Limited to assist in recovering debts owed NIMASA which are put at $420.5million with the aim of channeling these funds into developing critical infrastructure as well as knowledgeable manpower for the maritime industry.
