Agencies Disobeyed Osinbajo’s Directive On 24-hour Port Operation - NPA MD Says

 

The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala Usman, said some Federal Government agencies operating at the ports disobeyed the directive and executive order signed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on ensuring 24-hour port operations and synergy among such agencies.

Usman said this during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme on Thursday which was monitored by our correspondent.

The NPA boss said Osinbajo, while serving as acting President in 2017, signed an executive order on the promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment and directed the resumption of 24-hour operations at the Apapa port and banned touting by officials or unofficial persons at any port; be it air, land and sea ports in Nigeria.

She, however, said that aside from the NPA, different Federal Government groups had refused to obey the executive order and no sanction have been passed right down to them.

Usman stated, “If you recollect there may be an executive order that become signed through the Vice-President which directed all corporations of government to conduct inspection (of bins) in a single location and that govt order became signed in 2017.

“Certain companies of government have not complied and one of the matters we have stated is sanctioning for non-compliance of an government order that turned into launched cannot be executed via the Nigerian ports.

“If an employer of government violates an govt order signed by the Vice-President, I believe the Vice-President and certainly the Presidency ought to sanction that organization for non-compliance but that has no longer been performed. The executive order sought to have all corporations do inspection in one vicinity as a result consignees don’t have to have multiple areas of inspection.”

The NPA boss stated she had stated the problem to the Presidential Council on Ease of Doing Business chaired by using Osinbajo however no sanction have been given to the errant businesses.

Usman argued that port operations would not run smoothly if it's miles handiest the NPA that is meeting its obligation.

She delivered, “There is an govt order to that volume. Some agencies have not complied. There have been numerous explanations and justifications for the non-compliance through these organizations. The NPA has raised it to the Presidential Council on Ease of Doing Business chaired via the VP to make sure sanctioning for non-compliance and as I preserve saying, if a directive is given and companies don’t comply, if there are no consequences for movement and state of being inactive meaning I even have no longer finished.

“We must be held answerable for no longer complying with a directive. For instance, we have 24-hour port operation that has been directed. All companies of presidency are required to set up personnel to have 24-hour port operation. We deployed our employees but the different legs had been absent. And of direction, we can not sanction other organizations of government.

“We drew the eye to the Presidential Council at the Ease of Doing Business to make certain those organizations additionally participate within the 24-hour ports and that non-compliance must be finished by the Presidency bobbing up from the government order.”