The House at its plenary session on Tuesday, October 18, 2017 has set up an Ad-hoc committee to investigate the process of termination of the contract between the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and INTELS after adopting a motion on the subject. Presenting the motion at the floor of the House, Hon. Diri Douye (PDP:Bayelsa) stated that the Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) had terminated a subsisting contract that had existed with INTELS Nigeria Limited after the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) had raised some observations. He further stated that the said contract had given INTELS Nigeria Limited the responsibility for the provision of logistics in Nigeria’s maritime sector and facilitating boats pilotage monitoring and supervision agreements. He also mentioned that INTELS collects revenue on behalf of the NPA.

Speaking further, he noted that the termination of the contract was conveyed in a letter by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to the Managing Director of the NPA on September 27,2017. According to the lawmaker, the AGF justified the termination of INTEL’s responsibilities on the basis that it contravened some sections of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account policy, which resulted in the contract being illegal. In addition, he stated that the Federal Government had responded to the Attorney General’s observations by sealing all the terminals without consulting INTELS who claim to have secured loans worth about $900 Million for construction and operations.

However, Hon. Rotimi Agunsoye (APC; Lagos) opposed the motion, saying that there was no reason for the House to intercede on behalf of the INTELS as the subject matter was one of contractual obligations and the company could sue the Government if it wished. Nevertheless, majority of lawmakers in the House held a different perspective and adopted the resolution that called on the Federal Government to maintain status quo pending the outcome of the investigation.