Intels apologises to FG over termination of pilotage agreement with NPA

Gabriele Volpi, founder of Intels, has apologised to the
federal government over the dispute that resulted in
the termination of his company’s pilotage agreement
with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

The agreement had allowed Intels to receive revenue
on behalf of NPA for seven years.

Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation
and minister of justice, on September 27 directed
Hadiza Bala Usman, NPA managing director, to
terminate the pilotage contract, saying it was illegal ab
initio.

Malami said it was in contravention of the constitution
and that the company failed to comply with
the treasury single account (TSA) policy of the
government.

Reacting to the incident, Volip said Intels will “comply
with the directive of government” and transfer all the
revenue collected from the boats monitoring and
supervision services in Nigerian maritime waters to the
TSA.

“We want to apologise to the federal government and
NPA over this disagreement with Intels. I was not
personally involved in the negotiations with NPA, but
we apologise for what has happened,” Volpi told
THISDAY.

“We intend to comply with the directive of government
and transfer all the revenue to the TSA because we are
a law-abiding company.

Furthermore, Volip said Intels remained committed to
the development of the Badagry deep seaport.

“We are committed to co-operating with the
government and NPA in the development of Nigeria’s
maritime sector and this includes the Badagry deep
seaport,” he said.

“The Badagry deep seaport is a massive undertaking
which will cost billions of dollars and will be the
biggest in Africa and would turn Nigeria into a regional
hub for ships bringing goods to the continent.

“It will also help to move a lot of shipping activities at
the Apapa and Tin-can Island ports and help to
decongest Apapa, so we are serious about our
investments in Nigeria.”

Atiku Abubakar, ex-Vice President, is the co-founder of
the company.

A week after the pilotage agreement with NPA was
terminated, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)
accused Intels of not paying taxes.

TheCable