The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has revealed that debts owed by some operators in the maritime industry from 2004 till date amounts to about $420.5 million.
NIMASA’s Director General , Dr. Dakuku Peterside, disclosed this during an engagement with the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration in Abuja.
Peterside who invalidated claim that the agency was owed monies in excess of $10 billion, said it was incorrect given that the freight element of shipping trade in the last four years is not up to $10billion.
He said; “the entire freight element of shipping trade in Nigeria in the last four years is less than $10billion.”
The NIMASA DG, who responded 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, 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.
