NPA votes N14.3b for Lekki deep seaport project, eyes N201.31b revenue

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has set aside N14.3billion as part of its financial commitment to the ongoing construction of Lekki Deep Seaport in 2016.

NPA had in its 2015 budget allocated N20.4 billion as the balance of the Federal Government equity to the project.The project is being built on a tripartite arrangement between the Federal Government, represented by the NPA, the Lagos State Government and private investors, represented by the Tolaram Group.

A highly placed source at the agency that spoke with The Guardian yesterday explained that the Federal Government is determined to contribute adequately to the success of the project “in the interest of the nation’s economy,”

Meanwhile, between January and December this year, NPA has projected revenue of N201.32billion.Out of the sum, N50.42 billion representing 25 per cent will be transferred to the consolidated revenue fund while a total of N69.17 billion is for personnel and overhead expenses and N81.77billion for capital expenditure.

According to NPA, the proposed revenue is based on ship & cargo traffic expectation within the period while “the operating expense budget is essentially driven by the need to maintain and upgrade existing assets, improve monitoring roles and advance human capital development”.

In the proposed budget details, Managing Director of NPA, Habib Abdullahi explained that the projected revenues and expenditure were prepared based on the assumptions that the official exchange rate shall be maintained around N197 to a dollar.

The Authority has predicted that its operations in 2016 would be impacted by increase in tariff for imported automobile, reduction in service boat operations “as oil companies scale down investment due to the global crash in oil price.”