Events at Nigerian Ports Authority [NPA] that dominated the news in Nigeria at the weekend reminded me of what our secondary school Chemistry teacher, Mrs. Koshy, once taught about the anomalous behaviour of water.
As water at room temperature gets colder, its density increases until it reaches 4 degrees Celsius. Below that temperature however, water’s density falls again until it freezes at 0 degrees. This remarkable happening, due to strong intermolecular attraction between hydrogen bonds, has tremendous implications for living things in deep lakes and seas. Because of this behaviour, water does not freeze all the way to the bottom in deep waters, hence living organisms are able to ride out the winter months below the frozen surface.
No such hiding place under the ice exists at NPA, despite the abundant seawater all around it. Neither the suspended managing director Hadiza Bala Usman, nor Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi who recommended the suspension, nor the Presidency that approved it, nor the presidential spokesperson who had to explain it, and nor even confidential public documents could find rest below the stormy port waters.
Government was leaking like a sieve and confidential documents were flying all over the digital and analogue space. It was the first time that government officials released confidential documents without waiting for an FOI request, on which they usually drag their feet.
From information already in the public domain, there were many water-like anomalies in this affair. Hadiza Bala Usman became at least the sixth top Buhari Administration official to be axed under misty circumstances. Before her, there was former SGF Babachir Lawal, former NIA boss Ayo Oke, former DSS boss Lawal Daura, former FIRS chairman Babatunde Fowler and more recently, former EFCC chairman Ibrahim Magu. Evidently, there was a deadly battle for supremacy between her and Amaechi, both of them once trusted comrades in Buhari’s political circle.
The process of suspending Ms. Usman completely sidetracked a circular that SGF Boss Mustapha issued last year, in which he outlined a lengthy procedure for disciplining parastatal CEOs. A lawyer said the president has full powers to suspend an official he appointed without recourse to procedure, which is not very nice. Probably, if the communication had been routed through the SGF, he would have advised compliance.
Amaechi’s prayer to the president was for him to approve an administrative inquiry into NPA’s alleged non-remittance of operating surplus to Consolidated Revenue Fund, CRF. Nothing ever arose Buhari’s interest like allegation of financial misdeed, so he quickly approved Amaechi’s prayer. The president may not have approved the prayer in a hurry if he had closely studied Hadiza Usman’s answer to a query issued by his Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari.
There is confusion in top government circles about the meaning of operating surplus. Budget Office of the Federation, which first raised the matter, calculated the amounts that NPA was supposed to remit to CFR from its budgets and concluded that there was a shortfall. Usman however said operating surplus is calculated based on audited accounts. Fiscal Responsibilities Commission had issued a template to calculate the amounts due. NPA had already remitted the full amounts for 2017 and 2018 and had made billions in remittances for 2019 and 2020 pending the conclusion of its 2019/2020 accounts audit. Her explanation sounded very plausible, and she called Accountant General of the Federation as witness.
Another leaked letter from the Auditor General of the Federation was a slap on the minister’s face. Amaechi asked AuGF to audit NPA, but the latter replied that statutory corporation’s accounts are audited by external auditors appointed by their boards. NPA had already audited its accounts, AuGF said. What is needed, one banker later said, was to wait for NPA’s audited 2019 and 2020 accounts, after which CBN will debit its account of the full remittance sum.
Although Amaechi’s mandate was to probe NPA’s management, only the MD was suspended. The Executive Director, Finance took over as Acting MD, which is curious, since financial matters are involved in the probe. One report said Ms. Usman sidelined Mohammed Bello-Koko and moved Procurement Unit to her office, which may be why he escaped the hammer.
The committee that the Transportation Minister set up to probe Ms. Usman was also anomalous. It is headed by the ministry’s Director Maritime, who is incidentally an NPA board member. The other members are also ministry officials, raising the charge of unfair hearing.
Amaechi soon expanded the probe into CRF remittance to a fishing expedition. His ministry leaked stories about alleged inflated contracts, stevedoring changes, Intels matter and alleged huge corporate social responsibility spending by NPA under Ms. Usman. Those matters were not outlined in the prayer seeking presidential approval to probe.
Clearly, there were underlying issues in this conflict. Some reports said it was the battle for 2023. That one is convoluted because Hadiza Usman and Amaechi were both allied to Kaduna State Governor Nasiru el-Rufa’i, as far as we know. Other reports said it was Ms. Usman’s arrogance and lack of deference to Amaechi and to Minister of State for Transportation, Gbemisola Saraki. If so, the Presidency encouraged it because the MD got a second term earlier this year straight from the Villa, six months before her first term expired and without recourse to or input from the Ministry. That was anomalous; if he had been asked, Amaechi could have raised all these issues and they might have been resolved before she got her second term. Ports Authority, Transportation Ministry and Presidency all borrowed anomalous behavior from water.
