NPA'S REVENUE IS ON UPWARD SWING - DIRECTOR

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says its revenue profile has been on the rise since the ports concession excersise. Mr Adetola Atekoja, NPA Executive Director (Finance and Administration), disclosed this in Lagos.

Atekoja said that revenues from the ports had exceeded their projections since the concession exercise. He said the revenue fell below the projection in 2010 due to Federal Government's approval that NPA should give 50 per cent revenue rebate to petroleum laden vessels.

The executive director, however, said the overall budget performance for 2010 showed that NPA was doing fine. He said there were 26 concessionaires, adding that the NPA had been able to track revenues by monitoring activities of the concessionaires.

'So we are able to track where the revenue was leaking and that is why we can achieve close to 97 per cent of the budget,'' Atekoja said. The executive director said that NPA's challenges post-concession included training, adding that training was capable of changing the attitude of the staff.

He, however, said that another impediment was trade facilitation, saying that NPA had been doing a lot to position Nigeria, especially the Lagos ports in terms of dredging and capacity building.

'To meet the budget target, what is needed now is the trade facilitation role of other government agencies. Their role should be such that it will be very easy for any of the land-locked countries in West and Central Africa to know that the goods that are passing through Nigeria are safe and will be delivered wherever they are needed,' he said.

Atekoja said the economy of the country would grow with trans-shipment of cargoes. NPA said it generated 592.2 million dollars (N79 billion) in 2010, representing a 15 per cent growth over the 457.8 million dollars (N69 billion) generated in 2009.