₦airaland Forum

Very Serious.

More trouble for Atiku, NPA to re-award INTELS contract, FIRS seals INTELS office in Onne.


The disagreement between the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and INTELS Nigeria Limited deepened yesterday as the agency said it would soon begin bidding for the withdrawn pilotage contract.

The Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala-Usman yesterday said the company was trying to prove to be above the law of the Federal Government of Nigeria, adding that the authority would not condone that attitude.

Bala-Usman said the government would follow the issue to the letter and open a fresh bidding in a transparent manner for prospective contractors.

She assured the jittery workers of the oil and gas logistics giant that once they possess the required skills, the new contractor would engage their services.

The NPA boss alleged that INTELS had refused to comply with the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the Federal Government, as it insisted on deducting its money from source.

“INTELS wanted to continue to do the job and deduct their money from source and then remit the balance to NPA, due to the fear of delay. I have, therefore, assured them that the money would be paid within seven working days and where we exceed these days, we would be ready to pay for the delays. No company is above the law 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 NPA,” she said.

INTELS alleged that the management of NPA deliberately frustrated attempts to address the issues raised by the introduction of the TSA in the execution of its pilotage agency agreement.

There were reports that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has placed a seal on INTELS property in Onne, asking the company to pay unremitted taxes. But the company’s spokesman, Bolaji Akinola, debunked the report which he said was concocted by some unreliable sources to destabilise INTELS.

A statement by INTELS said the issues arose because the pilotage agency agreement, signed in 2010, did not envisage the TSA, and as such did not factor it into its implementation. The company said it borrowed $1.4 billion (N428.4 billion) from banks to execute the agreement with the understanding that the debt would be offset from monies realised from the pilotage services paid directly to the banks.

Akinola said meetings, letters and proposals on how to resolve the TSA imbroglio were rebuffed by the NPA managing director. “Deliberate stumbling blocks were placed on the path of resolving the issues and this is indicative of a sinister motive,” Akinola said yesterday.

According to him, INTELS on May 5, 2017, sent a letter to NPA proposing the opening of a jointly signed account between the company and NPA to which the boat service revenues would have been directed, but that the proposal, like many others, was rebuffed.

He also faulted claims by NPA that the contract was terminated based on the advice of the attorney-general of the federation.

“At what point are revenues eligible to be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund? NPA acting on behalf of the Federal Government entered into a profit sharing agreement with INTELS that 72 per cent of the revenue goes to NPA while 28 per cent is for INTELS.

“The objective interpretation of the constitution should be that the revenue due to the federation should be the 72 per cent due to NPA,” he said.

Akinola also said that NPA could not fault INTELS in the execution of the contract, “which we handled most diligently.”

The spokesman said the management of NPA was pandering to the antics of the company’s detractors at the expense of government revenue, huge investments and several jobs, contrary to the position of fairness and objectivity that it should have adopted.

The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, yesterday alleged that with the faceoff between NPA and INTELS, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, was being persecuted over his presidential ambition in 2019.

Reacting to the decision by the FIRS to seal INTELS over tax evasion, he warned government agencies to steer clear of politics.

In a statement in Abuja, Frank condemned the decision to shut the firm, believed to belong to Atiku, adding that Nigerians should rise up to the situation.



https://guardian.ng/news/more-trouble-for-atiku-npa-to-re-award-intels-contract/

Intels is a greedy company. How can you be collecting more than 75% of the profits leaving less than 25% for the rest of the nation. And this has been going on for years and decades. You have had your fill and eaten enough so go quietly.
Are there no indigenous SS or SE folks that can do this job in Onne. Must all economic activities in the south be controlled by northerners in the first instance.

wawale:
The 26B is not stolen only that contract was issued without following due process & we all know that when it comes to contract there is always personal interest even Kachikwu has some1 he wants to favour.

Fooooolishh man, don't you know awarding contracts fraudulently and without due supervision is the easiest way of stealing Government money. All the Governors and Ministers that loot don't simply go to CBN and collect money. They award illegal contracts that don't follow due processes and get their cut.

Traitor Orji Uzo Kalu!

What is actually happening in Onne. Is this attack by Buhari really affecting the business and life there? i wish someone in PH or Onne can give us a first hand observation of the recent happenings because early last year when i was in Onne the whole place was bubbling with economic activities and full of life.

All sacrifised by Davido. Pure Simple!

Unknown Award. Publicity Seekers!!!

GavelSlam:
Renewal of contract to companies who have a history of performance is what dummies call missing money?

Honestly there are way too many morons in Nigeria.

If the Companies have a history of performance why not renew it openly and through due process. Why not let it be bided for and go through the board of directors as law stipulates.
God, that one man alone called a GMD can unilaterally, singly and illegally award contracts worth N9 trillion without any form of supervision or due process is the worst crime I can think of.
You know what, it's only when an admistration leaves power that the full extent of their illegal and shoddy deals come to light. What we are hearing now might just be a tip of the iceberg.

What makes him a billionaire? Does having a fine Duplex and some fine cars make him a billionaire? Or is because he is press friendly. There are thousands of his type in Onitsha and Lagos too so let's just keep that story aside.

Where is Davido

The Woman is a Witch!

olotan2:
this man should be subjected to law, no one is above the law

Which law are you talking about. Is there a law that says sitting at home during election and refusal to vote is illegal? Or is it the bail law that says he should not be seen with more than 10 people? So he should not go to church again? Or enter public transport. Well I news for you. Even his house hold members are more than 10. So what should he do? Run to the forest and live or kill himself? My dear, the sooner we realize that draconian laws have no place in this modern world the better for us all.

There is nothing wrong with IPOB boycotting elections. It is perfectly legal anywhere in the world.
Boycott simply means refusal to partake. Kanu never said elections will be disrupted or that INEC will be chased away, he only called on likeminded people to sit at home on that day and not to vote. Personally it’s not all elections that I even i vote in.
There is a clear difference between boycott and disrupt. Only northern illiterates and war mongers are blind to that difference.
Please let us all be guided accordingly and let Buhari not blindly rush into things that can lead to an unnecessary war as Kanu has warned. Anybody has a right to boycott. Simple.

He Ojukwu has always felt Nigeria should be one if there's equity and justice and fairness. But now you Buhari has shown us your just a Viper, giving 95% appointments to those you claimed voted for you. Trying to smuggle out CRK from our school Curriculum and smuggle in IRK under the guise of Arabic Studies.
Buhari, don't even bring Ojukwu into your parochial and narrow minded rule that has seen different parts of the country trying to seceed. If you were ruling according to the dreams of Ojukwu and many other Nigerians
no one would has thought of secession. Not even Nnamdi Kalu

Niger Delta money talking in Spain.
How this man from a desert and terrorist infected area swims with southern money is baffling and a tragedy.

christopherozo:
Maybe this is the CHANGE they have been singing about
Two biological sisters from the same family
One is APGA, became ambassador under PDP
One is 'which party?' But became ambassador under APC
Naija no dey carry last!

Noooo....
The other is IPOB but is now ambassador under APC.
Biafra no dey carry last.
Hopefully Nnamdi Kanu go retain am next year as Biafran ambassador to Namibia.

Okorocha, prove him wrong for once so that we spectators can finally be at rest. Let's see ur left leg. Put on football shorts one of these days n go for a walk so that people can see u and snap u fully. I for one will be analysing ur left leg if it's really getting rotten. Come on Okorocha, pls don't fail us

hmmmm

Ambode tells Fashola to return all Lagos buildings, lands


Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, Tuesday asked the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, to ensure that the federal government release all the disused and disputed assets to the state government.

“They are no longer in use for the purpose the apex government acquired it”, Ambode said at the State House after receiving the report of the Special Committee on Federal Government Assets in Lagos State.

The committee chaired by former Federal Commissioner for Works, Chief Femi Okunnu, comprised a human rights activist, Femi Falana, a Simmons Cooper partner, Mrs. Victoria Alonge and Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Lands Bureau, Olabode Agoro, among others.

Ambode recalled that Fashola was a passionate advocate of the issue during his tenure as Governor, adding that now that he is a representative of Lagos State in the Federal Executive Council (FEC), he should use his office to return the assets.

Ambode said the recovery of the federal assets was strategic to reflating the economy of the state and improving its GDP, saying it had become imperative that the state government “pursues this particular project to a laudable conclusion.”

He explained that he constituted the committee to put an end to the jurisdictional disagreement between the federal and state governments over the disused lands, buildings and disputed quarters to which the former still laid claim within the territory of the latter.

His words: “The report of the committee has come at a time when the state government is in dire need of space for development projects that would improve the socio-economic wellbeing of its residents in line with the socio-economic realities of present times.”

“We hope this initiative will end the long standing dispute between the federal and state governments over the disused lands, buildings and disputed quarters in various parts of the state.

“These assets are no longer in use for the purposes for which they were originally released to the federal government. We are hopeful this report will get favorable response from the federal government now that these assets are no longer in use for the purposes they were acquired.”

After submitting the report, Okunnu expressed sadness over the current status of the Federal Secretariat in Lagos and other abandoned assets of the federal government in the state, noting that the assets be returned to the state government for effective and proper usage.
APC didn’t win 2015 presidential election – Ali Modu Sheriff


He said the assets “are not only quarters, but the land on which these buildings are situated. We have tried to argue that the whole of Ikoyi with boundary at Lagos Canal standing between Ikoyi Island and Lagos Island.”

Okunnu added that title to the whole of the Islands “is vested in the Government of Lagos State when Lagos became Crown Colony. Title to the whole of Ikoyi including Osborn Foreshore, Banana Island is vested in the government of Lagos State. We have other areas we have covered.

“The state owned Festac Town. The title to the town is vested in the government of Lagos State. Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is the tenant of the Government of Lagos State indeed. Also, the title to the Trade Fair site is vested in Lagos State.

“The government of Lagos State acquired the Land of the Trade Fair site. But the federal government gave a promise to pay the state compensation which was to be paid to the original owners of the land. That compensation was not paid,” Okunnu noted.

He added that title to Satellite Town too “is vested in Lagos State. It is the federal government which should prove title to any land, which it claims to own in Lagos State. The land on which the International Trade Fair Complex was situated was acquired for the purpose of the trade fair, but the place had been turned into market.

“Federal Secretariat gives me sadness because I built it when I was the Federal Commissioner for Works. The land upon which federal secretariat is situated is part of the Crown land, which is now state land.

“The title to the Crown land is vested in Lagos State. But Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson agreed to release that land to the federal government when they wanted to build federal secretariat.

“We hope that discussions between Lagos State Government and federal government on hand over of federal lands, state lands within Lagos and disuse or surplus lands which federal government, especially defence and prisons are still occupying in Lagos are resolved.
Corruption fueling Biafra agitation, militancy – Magu


“Large parcels of the land are now surplus to what is required under the land. We hope that discussions between Lagos State and federal governments will be held to settle this palaver once and for all.”



http://dailypost.ng/2017/06/21/ambode-tells-fashola-return-lagos-buildings-lands/

The useless Fashola has stayed almost 2 years as minister of works and yet these roads remained an eyesore. He has refused or is incapable of working any of the strategic roads in Lagos. So after FG refused to do Int Airport road, Ambode took it over to do. Now after refusing to do the Apapa Wharf road, Dangote and Flour Mills are now doing it themselves. Tell me, what single kobo is the FG spending on its own in Lagos and in all those strategic roads. They fustrate people to the extent that the state government and companies now take over the roads inspite of the N500 billion budget of the Fed works ministry. Shame on FG and shame on Fashola especially because after being a Lagos Governor he has made no single kobo investment in any road in Lagos.

No wonder ExxonMobil has refused to relocate its HQ to Akwa Ibom. Wicked set of militants n kidnappers

Where is useless Fashola. Triple minister for mouth. All federal roads are yearning for ur attention

Myself2:
The biggest mistake Ear-blocked dullard Buhari made was appointing Fashola into those three ministries of work,power and housing,he should just have created a ministry of flower planting and sent Fashola there,since all he did in Lagos was plant flowers

My brother, you just said the truth. All I remember Fashola for now in Lagos is just his flowers. Then Fashola kept blasting Jonathan to fix Apapa Road. Now that he Fashola is the minister in charge, what single thing has he done on that road. I bless the Lord for bringing a man like Ambode as Governor.

Black Face is not Happy

Black face should hide his face in Shame. Whom God has blessed no man can curse.

I swear this man will not spend a kobo on campaigning for re-election. The thousands of visible projects he must have commissioned by then will make even the dead and trees on the road side vote for him

deomelo:
Fashola built 15 waterworks

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola built 5 power stations

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola built 3 bridges including the best bridge in In Nigeria and West Africa called Lekki Ikoyi bridge>

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola built 6 modern jetties

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola built countless housing estates

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola build dozens of new schools

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola built many hospitals including the first burn center in Nigeria and the first Cardiac and Renal hospital in Nigeria.

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola built 13 maternity centers.

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola built many parks including the Freedom park

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola build 30 skill acquisition centers

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola built rice and cassava mill

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola build the Lagos state energy college

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola built the new LASG house of assembly

How many ambode don build? None

Fashola built 2 asphalt plant

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola built Fashola Paving Stone manufacturing plant

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola build many modern court houses

How many Ambode don build? None

Fashola built many modern markets including the new Oyingbo market

How many Ambode don build? None



Fashola's work is enough to fill more than 10 pages on NL, but Ambode's work can not fill 1 single page.

Fashola's work goes beyond overhead bridge and basic roads which so far is Ambode's preoccupation which is very basic and non ground breaking per Lagos standard, but no governor in Nigeria past or present can overtake Fashola's achievements because his body of work was very comprehensive and across the board.

I know hate and ignorance are the foundation of your comment so I do understand.

How much has Fashola paid you to articulate all these lies. If he Fashola was that good why hasn't he transformed the power ministry which he kept blasting Jonathan for. Shows he was just over rated. The truth is that two years of Ambode has impacted Lagosians more than 8 years of Fashola. To the extent that even PDP and Bode George acknowledged that the young man's achievements has totally swept them off.
Fasholas incompetence and his jealous of Ambode has made him not to do a single work inside lagos state as the minister of works and housing. All the delapidated federal roads in lagos which Fashola kept begging the federal government to do before has now been purposely abandoned by him. Shame on Fashola. Ambode is a gift of God and the best thing that has happened to Lagos recently.

Is the park in Onikan or Iganmu? Am confused.

Must it always be in Lagos. Almost all new Nigerias Vehicle assembly plants are there. Dangote, your Refinery which is the biggest in Africa is in Lekki, why not take this your new Assembly plant to Ogun or Osun or Rivers. Lagos is being littered with industries already. Soon the will hold the rest of Nigeria hostage or break out of the country.

Those folks there constitute a nuisance. How can u have a mega slum in Lekki phase One. It's like building a heavy slum in the middle of Maitama. They have been given places to migrate to but they refused. City planning and land demarcation must be properly applied to if any city is to be great and liveable. It's not by force to be in Lag. Am from Imo state and the day Lagos doesn't favour me I head straight home rather than being a refugee in a foreign land.

Nice one, Lai Mohammed has worked had and handed over National Theater to Lagos. Remaining that over rated Fashola to do the same and hand over Airport road to Lagos. Even the sports minister is doing the same for National Stadium Surulere. Lagos is working and heavily funded so all these can be taken care of comfortably. Fashola, kindly swallow your pride and do the needful.