Following the recent termination of its boat service agreement on allegation of indebtedness, the management of Intels Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s oil and gas logistics giant, said it is not indebted to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), but rather NPA owes it more than US$750 million.
The company, which issued a statement on Tuesday in response to the termination of its boats pilotage monitoring and supervision agreement by the NPA, said while it is open to an amicable resolution of the contract dispute with NPA, it is willing to proceed in all appropriate directions to protect its interests and its 5,000 employees.
“With regard to the media report in Thisday Newspaper of Sunday 19th May, 2019 concerning the agency agreement between NPA and Intels, the latter states that it has not breached or violated the agreement with NPA,” the statement, which was sent to BusinessDay, stated.
Intels further confirmed the correctness of its actions, in line with the agreement signed on 24 August 2018, according to the terms and timing established therein, in compliance with the principle of reciprocity of rights and obligations thereby provided for.
According to Intels, the same agreement supplements the original agreement and reinforced the understanding of the parties that the agency service was entrusted to Intels, in order to guarantee a repayment plan for the significant investments made.
“Intels reiterates that, overall, it is not in any way indebted to NPA, but it is instead a creditor of NPA for an amount exceeding US$ 750 million against the financing granted by Intels and associated entities to NPA over time,” the statement reads.
Intels however expressed hopes that the undergoing amicable procedure with NPA may result in clarifications between the parties and a return to normal operation.
It also reaffirms its willingness to proceed in all appropriate directions to protect its own interests, in line with the contractual agreement, and all valid receivable claims against NPA, for the protection of its corporate interests, 5,000 Nigerian employees and shareholders and those who have been operating in the Country for over 40 years.
Reacting to this, Adams Jatto, general manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications of the NPA, who faulted Intels’ claim, said Intels has agreement with the NPA, which states that monies collected in the boat service contract should be remitted to the authority through Treasury Single Account (TSA), and that the NPA will give Intels commission, which is 28 percent of all monies collected.
“The over US$142 million NPA says Intels owes is the accumulated amount, which is yet to be remitted into the TSA. How come is NPA that owes them? Is it that they gave us services and we did not pay or what?” he questioned.
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE
