₦airaland Forum

Concession: Again, Hadiza Bala Usman Accuses BUA of Twisting Facts

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

A former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, has again reacted to an accusation by the BUA Group that she disobeyed court orders and violated the terms of the agreement with the company.

In a statement yesterday signed by Niran Adedokun, the Media and Communications Adviser to Bala Usman, who is also the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, she described BUA’s narrative as half-truths and outright falsehoods.

She stated that instead of apologising to the public and to her for the first false statement he made, the BUA group has doubled down, ‘brandishing a new set of lies and misleading information regarding its breach of contractual obligation to the NPA.”

BUA Group had dismissed as false, the claims of breaching the concession agreement and distorting facts made against the Nigerian conglomerate and its chairman, Abdul Samad Rabiu by Bala Usman.

“We have taken note of recent public statements made by Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman, the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), who was sacked from office. In her comments, she accused BUA Group and our Chairman, Abdul Samad Rabiu, of breaching a concession agreement and distorting facts.

“Ordinarily, we would not engage, but the distortions in her response necessitate this factual clarification, especially as they relate to her actions during her tenure as MD of the NPA,” the BUA statement added.

However, Bala Usman said: “ It is also curious that the company’s claim to lack security did not prevent it and all other concessionaires from making full commercial use of the facility at any time. The claim that the Authority disobeyed the order of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, which granted an injunction to BUA, is also untrue!

“The NPA obeyed the court order and allowed BUA access and continued use of the facility from January 2018, when BUA secured the injunction, until June 2019, when it was decommissioned due to safety concerns raised by the company itself.

“In the 18 months between January 2018, when the company secured the court injunction and June 2019, BUA berthed 117 vessels comprising liquid and dry bulk cargoes. This data refutes the claim that the NPA flouted court orders,” he stated.

According to Bala Usman, the total number of vessels BUA berthed also indicates that it made full commercial use of the terminal despite the poor quay walls and low draft.

However, on May 16, 2019, the statement noted that BUA Ports and Terminals Limited wrote to the NPA informing it that the jetty was in a state of total dilapidation and urgent need of repair or reconstruction and its engineers had advised that the jetty was liable to collapse at any moment.

Upon receiving the letter, the former Managing Director said she sought the advice of the engineering department of the NPA, which advised her office that the situation described in BUA’s letter raised serious safety concerns.

It went further to recommend that the Authority should decommission the jetty pending the submission and approval of the reconstruction details.

“We took this action to prevent accidents, especially since any incident would affect the adjoining quays and facilities of other concessionaires. The NPA has a duty to ensure the safety of lives and properties on its facilities, and this was what it did with the decommissioning of the jetty based on the professional advice of the engineering department.

“Contrary to BUA’s claim that the former MD, against the advice of her agency, unilaterally decommissioned the berths… at no point did the management take any decision without the advice of the relevant department. For the records, even the termination notice issued to the company emanated from recommendations of the legal department of the NPA,” she stressed.

Bala Usman reiterated that BUA’s access to former President Muhammadu Buhari and his subsequent intervention was based on the manipulation of facts and misinformation.

“How do you factually justify the continued refusal to comply with a contractual obligation which was due to commence in 90 days for 10 years? It is also false that the NPA did not attend the mediation meetings called by the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. Staffers of the legal department of the Authority represented the Authority at the meeting.

“ It is interesting to note that BUA states with pride that it commenced a contractual obligation it was required to fulfil in 2006, in 2022, which is 16 years after the obligation was due! For the records, the NPA diligently pursued the arbitration process (which it initiated despite the delay by BUA) with BUA at every material time. It is, therefore, unfortunate that the company would accuse this same management of disregarding the process.

“The foregoing facts impugn BUA’s serial attempts to mislead the public and present itself as a victim in the media, while in reality, it operates with the air of a conglomerate that considers itself above the laws of the land,” the statement added.

It stated that Bala Usman’s tenure as MD of the NPA was driven solely by a commitment to Nigeria’s best interests, explaining that guided by this principle, she insisted on the strict enforcement of all contractual agreements—standards to which she and her management team held the NPA itself accountable.

“The actions of an organisation that blatantly refused to honour its obligations while exploiting access to higher Authority reflect the impunity with which many big companies operate in Nigeria.

“Such conduct not only undermines the rule of law but also reeks of vindictiveness—an attempt to smear the reputation of individuals who serve the nation with integrity and diligence,” Bala Usman maintained.

https://www.thisdaylive.com/2025/06/02/port-concession-again-hadiza-bala-usman-accuses-bua-of-twisting-facts/

Previous thread: Port Harcourt Port Terminal: BUA Responds To Hadiza Bala's Accusation
https://www.nairaland.com/8441634/port-harcourt-port-terminal-bua

This is the cause of the latest series of exchanges between BUA and Hadiza Bala Usman.

It is an interview with Alhaji Abdulsamad Isyaku Rabiu, the Chairman of BUA and it is titled:

2 years of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu: A Business Perspective Interview with Abdul Samad Rabiu

It was produced by the BUA Group. Listen to what he says at the 7:57 minute mark.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-dc4ZLKq14?si=PQPUaxFZN_4YdqjH

More

Government fighting business, why other governments fight for businesses in their country.

Whatever battle BUA group is fighting, DAngote is behind it.

Who get time to read all thos

Let's go, class captain.

Very unusual of leaders from the North to publicly attack each other.

Too much corruption in every of our government parastatal...

You have got to give it to Hadiza. She does her best to bring sanity to a corrupt institution which unfortunately she's a part of. I interacted with her when she was MD, NPA and you could tell she was on a mission to build an institution to be proud of. She was like a new Sheriff in town at the time and everyone in the Agency had to buckle up. That much i witnessed. Reminds one of Dora Akunyili, though still a long way to go, to match her strides!

Lol Wu go be Refree

Where's the article?, this is the second thread I have seen today without the main article didn't see the article. Why is the bot deleting the OP?.
See scanty posts everywhere, will seun ever listen?.

Seun, definitely the OP has blocked me that I couldn't read the OP, I could only read people's comments but can't read the main article. Is this what the block button is supposed to achieve?, deny whoever is blocked by some posters from seeing their threads even when they are on front page?. seun, if you think these recent changes are helping this platform, you're very wrong and I pray it won't be too late then. How can I open a thread and denied seeing the OP because I was blocked, what type of nonsense is this?.

naptu2:
https://www.thisdaylive.com/2025/06/02/port-concession-again-hadiza-bala-usman-accuses-bua-of-twisting-facts/

Previous thread: Port Harcourt Port Terminal: BUA Responds To Hadiza Bala's Accusation
https://www.nairaland.com/8441634/port-harcourt-port-terminal-bua

What does BUA stand for? A trained journalist would have first written BUA in full meaning.

inoki247:
Lol Wu go be Refree

Pls, can you quote the OP , I can't see it.

Madam dont make it harder for this business man.....forgive

Look at this bot deleting comments, see how frontpage is scanty..

Ok, The OP is naptu2, no wahala

Intelligent woman.

onuman:
What does BUA stand for? A trained journalist would have first written BUA in full meaning.

You are asking the journalist?? Do you think he's on Nairaland??

onuman:
What does BUA stand for? A trained journalist would have first written BUA in full meaning.

That's his grandmother name

zero8zero:
Ok, The OP is naptu2, no wahala

one by one
Una go tire out for this site.

Better create your own nairaland where you and your cohorts will be dishing out propaganda
😁😁😁zombies , una no reach

Toh

fabolouz1:
Whatever battle BUA group is fighting, DAngote is behind it.

This kind of mentality makes it easier for politicians to remotely controlled your thinking pattern

Taich:
Government fighting business, why other governments fight for businesses in their country.

APC's style. Tinubu take am resemble his predecessors when he was clearly seen fighting dangote for the life of his Malta blending facility. This is one of many reasons we must send them to retirement come 2027 otherwise, the leaders of tomorrow will only come to this world and leave without any trace. They only care about themselves

..See.dem..fighting over incompetence & corruption..after they have cornered Nigeria's assets to themselves & cronies..using their tribal & parapo presidential kinsman to Grab & snatch PH marine Terminal..

..you came to the SS..stole oil wells, cornered the refinery, cornered the NPA Terminal in PH..

..SS..shine una eyes..

zero8zero:
Where's the article?, this is the second thread I have seen today without being able to see the main article. Why is the bot deleting the OP?.
See scanty posts everywhere, will seun ever listen?.

Seun, definitely the OP has blocked me that I couldn't read the OP, I could only read people's comments but can't read the main article. Is this what the block button is supposed to achieve?, deny whoever is blocked by some posters from seeing their threads even when they are on front page?. seun, if you think these recent changes are helping this platform, you're very wrong and I pray it won't be too late then. How can I open a thread and denied seeing the OP because I was blocked, what type of nonsense is this?.

If you're blocked and you are unable to read the thread of the user who blocked you when his or her thread is pushed on the front page, that's wrong. Seun must correct this anomaly.


-Kiss the truth!

Ok

zero8zero:
Ok, The OP is naptu2, no wahala

For a stealth agbadorian like the Op to be repulsed by your BS bootlicking speaks volume

zero8zero:
Look at this bot deleting comments, see how frontpage is scanty..

You wail too much

Simply log out and read the Op

fabolouz1:
Whatever battle BUA group is fighting, DAngote is behind it.

Ah really? Just like that! Please, can you shed more light on why you believe Dangote is behind BUA not honouring their part of the agreement? I'm genuinely interested to know the facts.