Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has inaugurated an investigative committee to probe the alleged mismanagement of funds leveled against the suspended Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman.
This is even as the minority caucus of the House of Representative has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to investigate her.
Usman is accused of failing to remit N165 billion surplus revenue to the coffers of the government but she has denied the allegations against her.
The 11-man committee is headed by Suleiman Auwalu, Director (Maritime Services) while Gabriel Fan, Deputy Director (Legal Services), Federal Ministry of Transportation, will act as secretary.
It will be recalled as earlier reported by Naija News that the presidency had confirmed the suspension of the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman.
The suspension according to a statement on Thursday evening by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He added that the suspension of Usman is based on the recommendation of the Ministry of Transportation under Rotimi Amaechi on the need to investigate the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority.
The President, therefore, directed Usman to step aside from her role pending the outcome of the investigations by the panel set up while Mr Mohammed Koko will be in acting capacity as the NPA boss.
Meanwhile, the Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate Usman over the alleged mismanagement of N165 billion.
The Caucus disclosed this in a statement signed on Monday by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Honourable Ndudi Elumelu.
They insisted that such huge economic crime against the nation should not be left to an administrative panel of enquiry, but committed to an anti-graft agency for an independent investigation.
It, therefore asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately “take in the indicted Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman, and commence a system-wide investigation with a view to prosecuting her, if found wanting”.
“Our Caucus holds that the mere suspension of the indicted Managing Director of the NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, and the resort to an administrative panel of enquiry even after the report by the Supervising Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, exposed an unremitted and possibly diverted operating surplus of N165 billion, amounts romancing and perfuming corruption by the APC-led Federal Government.
“The Minority Caucus also believes that the recourse to an administrative instead of a full-scale criminal investigation can only serve as a decoy to shield some other APC government officials involved in the looting spree at NPA and other affiliated agencies in the transport sector,” the statement read in part.
The lawmakers expressed concerns that by committing the alleged NPA looting to an administrative panel, political manipulations and partisan influences had taken precedence over what should have been a system-wide investigation into a monumental fraud.
“This is because, apart from the unremitted N165 billion cited by the Minister, other documents and reports from the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation had also uncovered several sleazes, including unremitted deduction to Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) amounting to N3,667,750,470. $148,845,745.04, Euro 4,891,449.50 and £252,682.14.
“This is in addition to audit query of N15.18 billion allegedly stolen through inflated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects/programmes under the watch of the suspended NPA Managing Director.
“As representatives of the suffering people of Nigeria, our Caucus is particularly very worried that such monumental lootings are going on at a time terrorists, bandits, unknown gunmen, and criminal militias are reigning supreme across the length and breadth of the country and life has consequently become the cheapest article in the country,” the lawmakers said.
They added that such resources if channelled to the security sector and well managed would have made a world of difference in addressing the problem of insecurity in the country.
