Independent 20170816-readme.ng

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INDEPENDENT WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2017
Shipping & Logistics
Andrew Utulu, +2348033562254, andrew.utulu@independentnig.com
ANDREW UTULU
LAGOS
The Nigeria Customs Service
(NCS), Tin Can Island
Command has said that it
generates an average of
N1.2 billion, daily to the Federal
Government coffers.
Comptroller Yusuf Bashar
made this disclosure during the inauguration/swearing
in ceremony
of the Tin Can Island chapter of the
International Freight Forwarders
Association (IFFA), and the official
launching of the Association’s operational
vehicle.
The new IFFA members include:
Ojo Peter Akintoye , chairman;
Marvins Lawani, Vice Chairman;
Chinedu Odiaka, Treasurer; Tope
Fatimehin, General Secretary;
Umunnakwe Ernest, Financial Secretary;
Christian Ekeyekwu, Public
Relations Officer(PRO); Iyakwari
Kyauta, Assistant Secretary and
Steve Igban, Director-General(DG).
The Customs boss used the
opportunity to caution clearing
Customs Generates N1.2bn
Daily At Tin Can Port – Bashar
agents to desist from false declaration
of cargo, under declaration,
indiscriminate dropping of containers
on port access roads and
illegal parking of their vehicles
around Tin Can port.
The Controller, who was represented
by Nnadi Dera, Deputy Controller
in charge of enforcement of
the command, urged the agents to
collaborate with customs and other
agencies in ensuring that port infrastructures,
especially the roads
are maintained.
Bashar also appealed to the
agents to shun unnecessary violent
protests at the port; rather,
he said they should initiate their
protest through viable communication
with relevant government
agencies.
He said: “We seek your collaboration
in ensuring that port infrastructures
are maintained, while
we are urging relevant government
agencies to maintain access road to
the port, we also encourage you to
talk to your members to park their
vehicles appropriately, there is no
need doing double parking, there is
no need burning tyres on the road
because they deplete the roads,
there is also no need dropping your
containers indiscriminately on the
roads, we should help government
to achieve its objectives
“Everybody has the right to protest,
but the days of going on the
streets to protest violently is gone,
today we encourage everybody to
initiate their protest through viable
communication with relevant
government agencies”
Going by the recent revenue collected
by the command, Bashir said
that Tin Can Customs have become
a command to beat.
He said that on the average now,
the command is making N1.2billion
daily for the government from the
port.
He attributed the success recorded
with the revenue to efforts from
all stakeholders.
Prince Ozor Chukwurah, member,
Board of Trustrees(BOT) of
IFFA called for tolerance among
stakeholders and other sister associations.
He harped on freedom of association,
saying that he is a member
of Association of Nigeria Licensed
Clearing Agents (ANLCA), adding
that it does not bar him from becoming
an IFFA member.
“Being a member of any other
association does not stop you from
being a member of IFFA. Whatever
you chose is what you get. It is for
the good of the industry”, he admonished,
adding that “We want to
ensure that people work on behalf
of the government. We need to sit
with the government agencies, discuss
issues as it affects the industry
and how to move the nation’s economy
forward”, he said.
Dr. Sam Onyemelukwe, National
President of IFFA, assured
that his members were ready to
collaborate with the Federal Government
in meeting it’s expectations
from the port, and to ensure
success in ease of doing business.
NPA Panel Recommends
Payment For Calabar
Dredging
The newly sworn in EXCO, IFFA, Tin Can Island Command
NIMASA Disclaims Employment Media Report
Nigerian Maritime Administration and
Safety Agency (NIMASA), has denounce
the misinformation in the media, particularly
online platforms, that there is
an ongoing recruitment exercise in the
Agency.
Isichei Osamgbi, Head, Corporate
Communication of the Agency in a
statement made available to <strong>Independent</strong>
said: “It is imperative to state, in
the interest of the unsuspecting public,
that the Agency has not launched
a recruitment campaign of any kind at
the moment; and that NIMASA is not
associated with any of the adverts being
peddled on various social media platforms
to defraud unsuspecting citizens
seeking legitimate employment in the
organisation”.
This clarification, he said, was necessitated
by the recruitment advert
supposedly floated by the Agency and
circulated on various social media platforms,
with the intention of misleading
and defrauding Nigerians.
“As inimical as the spurious advert
may be to the lives of unsuspecting and
desperate job seekers in the country, the
Agency’s management under the leadership
of Dr. Dakuku Peterside would
continue to operate within the tenets of
its core values of commitment, Accountability,
Discipline and Transparency in
dealing with its stakeholders, including
Nigerians who may wish to contribute to
the development of the country through
employment in NIMASA”.
Osamgbi noted that the most common
tactics of the scam involved: twitter
and/or text messages, e-mails,
as well as letters inviting gullible and
desperate job seekers for fake job interviews
at different locations across the
country claiming to be consultants to
NIMASA.
The Agency, according to him, has
informed appropriate authorities of
the activities of these unscrupulous elements
who are going about peddling
false information to defraud unsuspecting
Nigerians and “we appeal to
members of the public, particularly job
seekers, to treat any of such adverts as
fake, as the Agency is currently not in
the process of employing. Anyone who
entertains such invitations does so at his
or her own risk”.
He, however, noted that NIMASA, as
a responsible Agency of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria, has not commissioned
or contracted any individual or group to
engage in recruitment of anybody on
behalf of the Agency.
Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has recommended
that Calabar Channel Management
Company Limited (CCML),
be paid the balance of work done and
allowed to continue the dredging till
completion.
The recommendation, <strong>Independent</strong>
gathered was made by an audit committee
set up by NPA.
The committee was headed by, Prof.
Idris Abubakar, Executive Director, Engineering
and Technical Services of the
agency.
The report’s recommendations on
page 13 (iii) stated, among others, that
having verified volumes dredged, all outstanding
payments due to CCML should
be effected in line with the provisions of
the JV agreement.
Citing paragraph iv of the same recommendations,
saying that CCML be
paid, the statement said: “In view of the
subsisting presidential approval for the
JV, CCML be allowed to continue with
the operations, but at a reduced scale to
be determined by the authority’s need
and CCML’s board technical and finance
committee.
“The Calabar dredging issue has been
mired in controversy lately with allegations
flying round that the contract was
awarded to Niger Global Engineering
and Technical Services Limited without
due process, and that despite the fact that
the company did no job, it was paid $12
million,” the statement said.
Also, the statement said that documents
available to CCML said that Niger
Global Engineering, United Bank for
Africa dated September 2, 2015 also revealed
that Societe De Dragage/Lusembourg
SA was paid the sum of $3,600,000
on August 21, 2015 while Dredging International
Services was paid $1,207,440 on
August 24, 2015 and Nigerian Westminster
Dredging & Marine Limited was
paid $500,000 amounting to $6,307,440.