NPA assures House members of efficient budget implementation

Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on Wednesday assured members of the House of Representative Committee on Ports, Harbours and Waterways that it was committed to delivering on its responsibility of implementing the tenets of its annual budgets as approved by the National Assembly.
Hadiza Bala Usman, managing director of NPA, who gave the assurance, also solicited for the support of the House towards the successful rehabilitation of dilapidated infrastructure in the ports, as well as the procurement of plants and equipment across the nation’s seaports.
The NPA boss, who was represented by Mohammed Bello Koko, executive director, finance and administration of the Authority, also said that the NPA would pay premium to train its staff to enable them obtain the certification required to contribute to the effective operations of the authority in line with international best practices.
Patrick Asadu, committee chairman, who enjoined the NPA to keep on their good work, especially in respect to modernising and reforming the port industry, also charged the NPA to prioritise all the critical areas of concern in its budget to enable them pay premium attention to those areas while others sections would be attended to accordingly.
The committee chairman, however, stated that government would not compromise on improved operational efficiency, and urged the NPA management to work towards greater revenue generation as the economic situation facing the country required creative administrative management and expertise in order for the living standard of Nigerians to appreciate once again.
“We are generally impressed by the performance of the NPA, and if there are other areas we want them to improve when they come for budget defence, these areas would be highlighted to them,” he said.
The NPA, according to Asadu, is a very important organisation and quite strategic to the realisation of stronger economic growth in Nigeria, and therefore urged the organisation to improve its savings, especially in the face of the current economic realities.