Rasaq AbdulKareem/
Witnesses at the ongoing House of Representatives investigative panel today clarified that 6779 metric tons of rice donated by the Chinese government was rescued by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
According to the witnesses, six months after the arrival of the donation at the Nigerian port, no agency of government came to claim or clear it from the port.
It was not until NEMA’s intervention in January 2018 that the rice began to be cleared and distributed to the victims of insurgency in the Northeast.
While making her presentation at the Isa Ali-led committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Committee hearing, one of the terminal operators involved in the arrival and clearance of the Chinese donation, Maersk Lines, represented by Blessing Ebri, said that the period the good was left at the port was responsible for the accumulated demur-rage of N694,376 million.
She added that the arrival of NEMA over the issue led to negotiations of N511, 899 million as the demur-rage.
Her words: “The consignments began arriving in June 2017, but there was no response from any government agency to claim the goods. We had to write to shipper, which is the Chinese government that no one was coming forward.
“The shipper approached us on January 30, 2018 and linked us with NEMA.
“NEMA later negotiated based on the fact that the rice was for emergency and it was agreed that N200million flat fee be paid by NEMA excluding the standard charge.
When the Committee inquire if the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and NEMA both paid for the demur-rage, she said: “NEMA paid for the demur-rage but the receipt was issued to the consignee which is Ministry of Agriculture.
“According to law, third party can pay for the demur-rage but we cannot issue receipt to third party. The receipt carried the name of Ministry of Agriculture.
“With the involvement of NEMA the goods began to leave the port from February, but they cannot clear all which led to accumulation of demur-rage again in the remainder.
“Double payment is not possible because the burden was transferred to NEMA; because there were no responses before then.”
On his part, the representative of APM Terminals, Daniel Odibe said that 271 containers passed through their port facilities and due process was followed by NEMA.
He said, “As at today (yesterday) all have left the port.
“The consignments were received between June and October 2017, five in June, 120 in August, 40 in September and 61 in October.
The total demurrage paid to our company was a little below N400million broken down into the bill of laden as N71.9million, N93.3million, N67.5million, N100, 097, 000 and N57, 026, 000 totalling N389, 823, 000.
When the Committee asked for documentary evidence of transactions between the parties, Odibe said, “The invoices and receipts are included in the submission we made to the committee.
“Waivers were applied for, based on request through correspondences and based on the fact that the containers are meant for IDPs.”
Meanwhile, the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris and the Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, have absolved NEMA’s Director-General, Mustapha Maihaja of any wrongdoing in the utilization of the N5.8 billion for relief materials in the North East.
At the ongoing public hearing of the House on NEMA’s activities, Idris said no cash was given to NEMA for the supply of relief food materials to the victims of insurgency in the North East in 2017.
He said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) confirmed the disbursement of the Fund in accordance with a mandate from the OAGF.
In his submission, the AGF said that the need to release the fund for the supply was as a result of the scaling down of funding by international agencies operating in the region which could jeopardise the lives of the people of the region.
Represented by Director of Funds, Mohammed Usman, the AGF said, “N5.8b was released to five companies and N829million to NEMA for logistics.
“The objective of the release of the Fund was the scaling down of international donor food funding in the region by 85 percent.
“However no money was given to NEMA, other than the money for logistics. But, it was charged to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.”
When the Isa Ali led-Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Committee insisted on the reasons behind the release of the money, he said, “I would have come with the records concerning reasons for the release of the Fund if the committee had included in what we were asked to provide the Committee with.”
He pleaded for time to come up with the requested information.
One of the companies engaged for the supply of the relief food items also confirmed that NEMA did not pay them for the cost of the food materials.
The representative of Dangote Industries, one of the companies that supplied maize worth N936million, Ahmed Hasheem, said it had no contract with NEMA on the subject matter.
He added that the CBN engaged the companies to mop up food items around the country in 2016 in anticipation of off season.
He said, “In December 2016, with others in food business, we were given money by CBN to mop up grains from local markets so that it can be used off season.
“We were paid, after which we mopped up the food grains and later we were asked to supply the items to NEMA, which we did.
“All the documentation of the grains supplied and delivered are available but we were contacted for the supply in 2017.”
The Committee, however, gave the AGF 72 hours to supply the requested information.
The meeting was adjourned indefinitely.
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