Facts have emerged that President Muhammadu Buhari was too quick to have suspended the managing director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, Hadiza Usman.
As now made open, Ms Usman’s suspension was initiated by the minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi through a letter to President Buhari dated 4th March, 2021.
He had complained in the letter that there was shortfall in NPA’s remittances of the “operating surplus of N165 billion to the consolidated Revenue Fund Account (CFR) from 2016 till date” and prayed that Buhari approved an audit of the account and remittance of NPA for the period quoted.
The president approved the suspension of Ms Usman to reportedly give room for probe into operating suplusses, reported to have fallen far short of the amount due for actual remittance by NPA.
As now made open, Ms Usman’s suspension was initiated by the minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi through a letter to President Buhari dated 4th March, 2021.
It is also now open that Amaechi acted against auditor-general’s letter, which faulted his plan to audit the agency.
The minister therefore misled Buhari into approving the suspension of Ms Usman as well as set up of a panel of inquiry.
On May 5, 2021, the NPA MD wrote to the chief of staff to the president, Ibrahim Gambari urging him to request the Office of the AGF, to clarify the matter.
“Accordingly, the figures so provided by the Budget Office of the Federation as the Operating Surplus for the respective years on which basis they arrived at the shortfall are derived from submission of budgetary provision not the actual amounts derived following the statutory audit of the Authorities financial statements.
“The Authority’s computation of its remittances to the CFR are concluded arising from numbers from Audited Financial Statements using the template forwarded to the Authority from the Fiscal Responsibility Commission as herewith attached and not budgetary provision.
“The authority has remitted the full amount due to it to CFR for the periods of 2017 and 2018 arising from the Operating Surplus derived from the Audited Financial Statement for the period totalling N76.384 billion as evidenced in attached treasury receipts.
“The Authority has remitted a total of N82.687 billion for the period 2019 and 2020 pending the audit of the financial statement at which point the amount so computed arising from the value of the Operating Surplus in the audited financial statement will be remitted to the CFR,” she stated in the letter.
However, already following Buhari’s approval for NPA’s accounts to be audited, the permanent secretary of the transportation ministry, Magdalene Ajani had written to the Auditor-General of the Federation, AGF, on April 6, mandating him to appoint credible auditors to audit the accounts of NPA.
But the AGF, Adolphus Aghughu wrote back to intimate the transportation ministry that NPA accounts were already audited by external auditors up to as recent as 2019.
Speaking with ASHENEWS on the development, a source who chose to remain anonymous, claimed that Amaechi had worked against tenure renewal of Ms Usman, a “situation that angered the minister to ensure he indicts her through all means and be sacked.”
