BUA Group and Hadiza Bala Usman, former managing director of
the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), are locked in fresh spat over the
termination of a Rivers port concession deal.
The dispute started following an article by Abdul Samad
Rabiu, the chairman of BUA Group, titled ‘Two years of President Tinubu: A
business perspective’.
Rabiu, in the piece, claimed the NPA, under Usman’s
leadership, abruptly revoked his company’s concession without prior notice.
He also alleged that the action was taken to favour
associates of Usman, who is now President Bola Tinubu’s special adviser on
policy coordination.
In response, Usman described Rabiu’s account as “barefaced
lies” aimed at misleading the public and shifting the blame for his company’s
contractual failures.
But in a counter-statement dated May 31, the BUA Group
restated its allegations, accusing Usman of acting unilaterally, flouting a
court order, and disregarding the arbitration clause in the concession
agreement.
The company said it would have ignored the former NPA boss
but is compelled to respond due to the “distortions” in her response.
“Long before Ms. Usman’s appointment, BUA had begun formal
engagement with the NPA to address outstanding remedial works and
infrastructural deficiencies,” the statement reads.
“These discussions were near conclusion when she assumed
office. Rather than build on that process, Ms. Usman ignored BUA’s requests and
obligations under the agreement. In 2016, BUA wrote to the NPA under Article
8.4 of the lease, mandating concessionaires to report environmental and safety
concerns and to seek approval for remedial works.
“Rather than act constructively, Ms. Usman used that letter
as a pretext to issue a termination notice and summarily shut down the
terminal, without providing any prior warning, consultation, or invoking the
dispute resolution clause.”
BUA Group alleged that the NPA, under Usman, failed to meet
its own obligations — including handing over critical portions of the port,
removing derelict iron ore, dredging or repairing quay walls, and providing
mandatory security.
‘VIOLATION OF COURT
ORDER, CONTRACT’
The company accused Usman of violating a federal high court
injunction granted in its favour after the termination notice was issued, and
also of ignoring the arbitration process provided in the lease.
“Despite this, Ms. Usman, against the advice of her agency,
unilaterally decommissioned the berths, thereby violating both the agreement
and a court injunction,” BUA said.
“To be clear, the concession agreement granted her no such
power to decommission. If she believes otherwise, we invite her to publicly
cite the specific clause that authorizes this action.”
BUA also said it was allowed back to the terminal briefly
after providing guarantees requested by the NPA, but noted that operations were
shut down again three weeks later at Usman’s directive.
The company described her actions as motivated by “personal animosity
and abuse of office”.
According to the statement, the shutdown led to over $10
million in estimated losses.
‘PRESIDENT BUHARI WAS
NOT MISINFORMED… HE ACTED ON FACTS AND LAW’
BUA said Usman’s claim that former President Muhammadu
Buhari was “misinformed” when he reversed her actions is “false, disrespectful,
and disingenuous”.
The company said Buhari’s decision was based on a legal
review by the attorney-general of the federation (AGF), who found the
termination unlawful and recommended reinstatement of BUA’s rights.
The organisation said Bihari had called for the review after
Rabiu presented the matter to him at a meeting.
‘HALF-TRUTHS AND
OUTRIGHT FALSEHOODS’
Also responding to BUA’s statement, Niran Adedokun, media
and communications adviser to Usman, dismissed the firm’s allegations as
“half-truths and outright falsehoods”.
He said BUA’s chairman lied when he claimed there was no
warning or notification before the revocation.
Adedokun insisted that the company received “a series of
default notices and warnings” before the concession was terminated.
The media adviser disputed BUA’s claim that the NPA failed
in its obligations, noting that the concessionaire — not the NPA — was
responsible for rebuilding the berths.
Adedokun said the claim that the NPA disobeyed the court
order, which granted an injunction in favour of 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,” he said.
“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 cargos. This data refutes the claim that the NPA flouted
court orders.
“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 16 May 2019, BUA Ports and Terminals Limited
wrote to the NPA informing it that the “jetty is in a state of total dilapidation
and urgent need of repair or reconstruction…. The company further stated in the
letter that “our engineers have advised us that the jetty is liable to collapse
at any moment….”
“Upon receiving this letter, the former Managing Director
sought the advice of the Engineering Department of the NPA.”
Following the letter, Adedokun said, the NPA’s engineering
department advised decommissioning the terminal until reconstruction details were
submitted and approved, to avoid endangering nearby facilities and human lives.
He further claimed that BUA’s access to Buhari and his
subsequent intervention were based on the manipulation of facts and
misinformation.
“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!” he said.
Adedokun also dismissed BUA’s accusation that the NPA
abandoned the arbitration process, which he said the authority initiated
despite delays by BUA.
“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,” Adedokun said.
He reiterated that Usman’s tenure at the NPA was solely
driven by a commitment to Nigeria’s best interest.
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this matter is going to be a long long one
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