Hadiza Bala Usman Fights Back To Quash Her Suspension

…As maritime stakeholders applaud presidency over her suspension

BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – The suspended Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, has not let her suspension go unchallenged as she is believed to have gotten the support of some governors to get her back on seat at all cost.

This is as the suspended MD of NPA stoutly denied allegations of her failing to remit the operating surplus of the agency to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CFR).

While she is fighting hard to return, some critical stakeholders in the maritime sector of the nation’s economy, applauded the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to have slammed her with the suspension hammer to pave way for an unhindered investigation as directed by the president.

Bala Usman in a letter dated May 5, 2021, explained to the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, ahead of the sitting of the panel constituted to probe her activities as Managing Director of the NPA from 2016 to 2020, that the purported failure of the NPA to remit an outstanding balance of N165.32 billion from 2017 to 2018 was a misrepresentation of facts.

The suspended NPA MD, who is believed to have garnered the support of some governors to return to her seat, said that contrary to the figures released by the Budget Office as outstanding operating surplus, the NPA remitted all that was due to the CFR as stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.

Bala Usman said that allegations against her by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi as contained in a memo he wrote to the President were that the NPA had not remitted an “operating surplus of over N165 billion to the CFR from 2016 till date were far from the truth.

However, stakeholders in the maritime industry opined that taking into consideration some of the actions and activities of the suspended NPA Managing Director, it was long overdue for the Federal Government to have acted in that direction.

The stakeholders also said that the administrative inquiry approved by President Buhari to investigate some of the financial infractions in the NPA under the period under review should be allowed to carry out it assigned duties.

President Buhari had last week Thursday announced the approval of the recommendation of the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, for an administrative panel of inquiry on the NPA management, as well as the suspension the Managing Director, Hadiza Bala-Usman.

The President’s directive which was contained in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu equally announced the appointment of Mohammed Koko as acting Managing Director of the NPA.

The panel of inquiry is to be headed by the Director, Maritime Services of the Federal Ministry of Transportation with the Deputy Director, Legal in the ministry to serve as Secretary of the panel.

In his comment, Capt. Tony Onoharigho, who is the President of the Nigerian Institute of Shipping (NIS), said that there was nothing wrong with someone being suspended in so far as the person committed an offence.

Onoharigho said that even though it has not yet been determined what offence Hadiza Bala-Usman has committed, adding however that if in the eyes of the law and wisdom of the President that she has done what requires a suspension, she should be so suspended.

In his words; “The federal government appointed her and if the same government feel she is not doing the job well again, then she has to go. I do not see anything wrong with the change. If her employer finds her not worthy to remain in that position, she should take it in good faith,” he said.

Onoharigho said that based on experience as the president of the NIS, it is not in the nation’s interest to have a chief executive officer remain in a position for too long. The law of diminishing returns sets in particularly one that has no background in maritime matters.

In his own reaction, the Chairman of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Mr Remi Ogungbemi, said he believed that the decision is purely an administrative issue within the management of the authority.

He said; “I however believe that anyone that has the power to hire, also has the power to fire in any organisation”.

In spite of her suspension, Bala Usman is not letting matters lie low as she also faulted the submission by her supervising Minister, who had presented details of the revenue accruals of the NPA to the presidency with financial records provided by the Budget Office, which showed that NPA’s net profit was listed as N133.08 billion in 2017, N88.79 billion in 2018, N73.92 billion in 2019, and N71.59 billion in first to third quarters of 2020. Hadiza Bala Usman told the Chief of Staff to the President that the figures were lower than what were submitted.

Bala Usman said that on the contrary, the NPA had N76.782 as operating surplus for 2017 and N71.48 billion for 2018 in the financial statement prepared in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

In the words of Bala Usman; “Accordingly, the figures so provided by the Budget Office of the Federation as the Operating Surplus for the respective years on which basis they arrived at the shortfall are derived from submission of budgetary provision not the actual amounts derived following the statutory audit of the Authorities financial statements”.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the panel constituted to investigate the NPA under the period under review is expected to commence sitting on Monday,  May 10, 2021.