The Nigerian Ports Authority’s managing director, Mohammed Bello-Koko, has been cleared of all charges of bad debt totaling N178 billion that were reported in the authority’s 2019 audited financial statement by the House of Representatives.
According to The PUNCH, the accusations were refuted by the Chairman of the House Committee on Public Petitions, Mike Etaba, at a public hearing on Wednesday at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.
The NPA and Bello-Koko were charged by the Forum of Non-governmental Organizations in Nigeria with collusion in the misappropriation of N178 billion for bad debt in the agency’s audited financial statement.
The forum did not show up before the committee on Wednesday to refute its accusations when the public session resumed.
Etaba rejected the petition for lack of substance, citing the petitioner’s failure to come before the committee to substantiate their claims against the NPA and the MD. Etaba was disappointed by the forum’s absence.
“This is the sixth time the House Committee on Public Petition is meeting in relation to the N178 billion bad debt claims made against the authority. The petitioner has been absent. Thus, the lawsuit is dismissed,” stated the Chairman.
The forum had asked in its petition to be invited to meet with the management of NPA in order to discuss the purported debt rise from N135 billion in 2018 to N173 billion in 2019.
“The authority’s 2019 audited financial statement has been brought to our notice, with particular emphasis on Trade Accounts Receivable and the substantial provision allocated for bad and dubious debts.
“The petition stated, in part, that the poor quality of NPA’s trade receivable account is alarming and requires urgent attention, even though we note that the position in 2019 would have changed significantly by now.
“We have serious concerns that the National Parks and Land Administration, a crucial and strategically significant government organization tasked with generating money, may permit inadequate handling of accounts receivable to the point where a significant amount of it is imported.”
