By Eromosele Abiodun
Following threat by INTELS Nigeria Limited to challenge  the recent termination of the boats pilotage monitoring and supervision agreement by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the authority has insisted that its action was in line with the constitution of Nigeria.
In a statement released over the weekend, the NPA stated that it relied on the advice of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, in arriving at the decision to terminate the contract.
This is just as INTELS has warned that the action by NPA would force it to reconsider its multibillion dollar investment at the Badagry deep seaport in Lagos, adding that the investment would have created thousands of direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians.
It said it had invested too much in the country and if the Nigerian government was not prepared to respect the sanctity of its contract, it was ready to head to the courts to challenge NPA’s action.
Meanwhile, the NPA revealed that the legal advice from the AGF was sought after more than one year of attempts to get INTELS to comply with the federal government’s directive on the Treasury Single Account (TSA)
“The first such correspondence was through a letter written by the former Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Mr. Olumide Oduntan on June 28, 2016 directing the company to pay all revenues collected on behalf of the NPA into the TSA sub account at the CBN.
“All further attempts by the authority to get the company obey this directive was met with various excuses until the authority wrote to seek the AGF’s legal advice on how to proceed with the NPA/INTELS  relationship in a letter dated May 31, 2017.
“The legal advice contained in a September 27, 2017 letter addressed to the Managing Director of the Authority, Hajia Hadiza Bala Usman, by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami (SAN) expressly stated as follows : “For the avoidance of doubt, the agreement for the monitoring and supervision of pilotage districts in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Nigeria on terms inter alia that permits INTELS  to receive revenue generated in each pilotage district from service boat operations in consideration for 28 per cent of total revenue as commission to INTELS is void, being a contract ex facie illegal as formed for permitting INTELS to receive federal government revenue contrary to the express provisions of Sections 80(1) and 162(1) and (10) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which mandates that such revenue must be paid into the Federation Account/Consolidated Revenue Fund.
“In the premise of the above, the conflict between the agreement and the TSA policy presents a force majeure event under the agreement, and NPA should forthwith commence the process of issuing the relevant notices to INTELS exiting the agreement which indeed was void ab initio.â€
The NPA added, “As a responsible agency of the federal government, the Authority, therefore proceeded to act as advised, which is to terminate the contract forthwith. The authority has taken note of threats by INTELSs to withdraw its investment plans in Nigeria and must point that business thrives in favour of everyone involved only when the laws of the country of operation are adhered to.
“No organisation is above the Nigerian constitution and it is only when all corporate entities obey the laws of the country that everyone benefits. There must be a level playing field for all players in the sector and this is the commitment of the authority.
“However, the authority respects the right of INTELS and all other corporate entities in Nigeria to explore opportunities presented by the courts to enforce their rights in as much as the Authority is confident of the correctness of the step that it has taken. The board and management of the NPA is committed to serving the best interest of Nigeria at all times and this is what has happened in the case under discussion.â€
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