Govt to sanction corrupt NPA officials
By Bayo Ohu, Asst. News Editor
THERE may be no hiding place any longer for corrupt officials of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), as its Managing Director Adebayo Sarumi yesterday assured that any of them indicted by a probe panel would be prosecuted and sanctioned according to the law.
Sarumi, who disclosed this in Lagos, however, said that the Federal Government which would determine the form and degree of sanction was yet to receive the report.
The NPA chief spoke at the opening of a three-day seminar on "Corruption, Fraud Prevention and Control" organised for top executives of the authority. He assured that no corrupt official would be spared of punishment no matter how highly placed in the society.
He added, "but Nigerians will have to wait for the Transport Minister, Dr. Abiye Sekibo, who will address the issue at the appropriate time."
According to him, investigations into about 29,000 contracts awarded in less than two years have been conducted and some officials who were suspected to have perpetrated frauds have been identified. He stressed that it was the final report of the panel that was being awaited.
Admitting that there were a lot of fraudulent practices discovered by the time he came in as the managing director, he added that the Federal Government has no option than to probe all the 29,000 contracts that were awarded, the value of which runs into billions of naira.
Sarumi added: "Fraud and corruption, as at when I took over eight months ago have almost sunk the ports to the extend that even our bank accounts have been overdrawn, while most of the consignments that were supplied to us where actually empty.
"The new management under my leadership came in and also discovered to our bewilderment that the authority has not been able to pay salaries, pensions remained unpaid and our pension accounts were also in arrears," he stated.
He, therefore, urged the participants to be committed and strive to shun corruption and other fraudulent tendencies, saying that workers were the last hopes the ports has to ensure its continuous existence.
He noted that corrupt and fraudulent officials abound in the various security agencies and other organisations within the ports. He asked NPA officials not to collaborate or co-operate with anybody to defraud the nation and contribute to the ruining of the national economy.
Advising the participants to pay adequate attention to the various papers slated for presentation, he said he was sure that the seminar would change and make them new persons.
About five seminar topics are slated for discussion. They are: "The attitude of the Law Courts and the Police on the Prevention, Detection, Investigation of Frauds and Forgeries in the Nigerian Society," "Problems encountered in eliminating frauds and corruption" and "Preventive auditing, investigation and minimisation of frauds, forgeries and computer-related frauds."
