…Atiku denied any benefit from the restoration of the contract
The Nigerian Ports Authority has disclosed that the country would save a whopping $326.8 million, roughly N227.86 billion, from the agreement it reached with INTELS Nigeria Limited on the contentious pilotage contract.
On the whole, NPA said the federal government would further earn benefits to the tune of over $500 million.
It said this was taking into consideration the interest waiver of $193,317,556 and reduction in interest rate on the outstanding debt from six-month London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR) + 6.5 per cent to six months Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) + 3 per cent.
NPA stated that the benefits also involved the spread of the repayment of the debt over 15 years, with the first two years being interest-free, and the reduction in commission from 28 per cent to 24.5 per cent.
It praised the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, for working tirelessly to ensure that the INTELS issue was resolved and, by so doing, putting Nigeria first.
Meanwhile, a former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is generally believed owned INTEL had denied any benefits from the alleged restoration of INTELS’ contracts with NPA, which were cancelled by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Mr Abubakar said his divestment in the company has yet to be reversed.
Atiku, who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, described insinuations that he was a beneficiary of the contract restoration as untrue.
Reacting through his X account, Atiku said, “In January of 2021, I made public the sale of a major chunk of my shares in the Integrated Logistics Services Nigeria Limited (Intels) to Orlean Investment Group, the parent company of Intels.
“The phased sale of those shares that commenced in 2018 reached its peak in December of 2020. Intels also made public my exit from the oil and gas logistics company, meaning that those shares I sold are now owned by a different entity.
“My divestment from the company that I co-founded has not been reversed. Consequently, I cannot by any stretch of imagination be a beneficiary of the reinstatement of the pilotage monitoring business that was taken away from Intels by the federal government.
“Therefore, the insinuation that I am a beneficiary of the decision to rescind the cancellation of the contract between Intels and the federal government is untrue and should be seen for what is: mischief.”
