Ports Concession: House Expresses Concerns, Queries Delay in Renewal of Agreements
Members of the House of Representatives Wednesday criticised the continued delay in concluding the review and renewal of ports concession agreements.
Worried about the development, the House directed the Committees on Ports Harbour, Privatisation and Commercialisation to reach out to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and other parties to investigate the cause of the delay.
The Committee was given two weeks to execute the assignment and report to the House.
The issue came up following the adoption of the motion on “Need to Investigate the Delay in Conclusion of the Review and Renewal of Agreements for Concession of Seaports” sponsored by Hon. Shehu Koko.
Koko had in the motion noted that though the Lagos, Port Harcourt, Onne, Calabar, Koko and Warri ports were concessioned in 2006 for a period 10 years, 15 years and 25 years not much has been heard of the review and renewal.
For instance, he said, this was even as some of the concessioned terminals which had 10 and 15 tenure had since expired.
He pointed out that some are to expire in May this year, adding that there was the need to ensure that hundreds of millions of dollars revenues accruable in such renewals were not lost.
He noted that though NPA, Federal Ministry of Justice, Federal Ministry of Transport, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Private Terminal Operators had started the review and renewal process in 2016, the outcome was not made public.
He said, “The concession agreements that have expired are deemed to have been automatically renewed without the benefit of full renegotiation, provided that concessionaires served the lessor requisite notice of intent to renew in line with the provisions of the agreement.”
Worried about the development, the House directed the Committees on Ports Harbour, Privatisation and Commercialisation to reach out to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and other parties to investigate the cause of the delay.
The Committee was given two weeks to execute the assignment and report to the House.
The issue came up following the adoption of the motion on “Need to Investigate the Delay in Conclusion of the Review and Renewal of Agreements for Concession of Seaports” sponsored by Hon. Shehu Koko.
Koko had in the motion noted that though the Lagos, Port Harcourt, Onne, Calabar, Koko and Warri ports were concessioned in 2006 for a period 10 years, 15 years and 25 years not much has been heard of the review and renewal.
For instance, he said, this was even as some of the concessioned terminals which had 10 and 15 tenure had since expired.
He pointed out that some are to expire in May this year, adding that there was the need to ensure that hundreds of millions of dollars revenues accruable in such renewals were not lost.
He noted that though NPA, Federal Ministry of Justice, Federal Ministry of Transport, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Private Terminal Operators had started the review and renewal process in 2016, the outcome was not made public.
He said, “The concession agreements that have expired are deemed to have been automatically renewed without the benefit of full renegotiation, provided that concessionaires served the lessor requisite notice of intent to renew in line with the provisions of the agreement.”
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