• FG okays 5% of recovered loot for whistleblowers

Industry watchers were taken aback yesterday, as the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) swooped, with fully armed soldiers, on some jetties, shutting them down without prior notice.

Two jetties were shut down in Lagos and another at Onne under questionable circumstances, igniting mixed reactions, with some tasking the media to look in-between the lines, if the adopted approach does not indicate some premeditated gestures!

“Ask them to show you the correspondences exchanged, if any, before they brought in soldiers to shut down these jetties”, a stakeholder, Tony Emeordi told the MARITIME FIRST at Apapa, shortly after a statement issued by the agency image maker, Hajia Lami Tumaka indicated that a NIMASA troop had shut down the Heyden Petroleum Jetty Ijora Lagos; Waziri Jetty, Dockyard Road Apapa Lagos and Starz Marine Shipyard Limited Onne in Rivers State, over non-conformity with the prescriptions of the International Ship and Port Facilities Security (ISPS) code.

“The media is sitting tight. The media is sleeping. You guys are not asking the right questions. Your job is not to write press statements!”, Emeordi emphasized, echoing an earlier respondent, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, saying he is convinced that the agency was merely trying to convince the visiting team of US Coast Guard that the agency was anything serious about delivering on the ISPS mandate.

“Don’t they see fisher men with their nets hovering over and around foreign vessels on daily basis here at Apapa and the Tin Can Island Port? What have they done? Or is that not an open contravention of the ISPS code?”, he asked, saying the media should open its eyes, and note, whether or not, the agency was playing by the rules of the thumb!

Investigation by the MARITIME FIRST showed that management and most decision takers of the shut jetties never had much deliberations, until the agency arrived with soldiers, to shut their facilities down.

Meanwhile, the agency on Wednesday said it had shut down the Heyden Petroleum Jetty Ijora Lagos; Waziri Jetty, Dockyard Road Apapa Lagos and Starz Marine Shipyard Limited Onne in Rivers State.

“These facilities have persistently failed to comply with the ISPS code necessitating their closure in order to forestall a situation where security breaches in such facilities will negatively impact the compliant ones”, Hajia Tumaka indicated in a statement.

“These closures are in exercise of the Agency’s powers in line with provisions of Part VIII of the ISPS Code Implementation Regulations 2014 under which the facilities were adjudged to be non-compliant despite repeated warnings to remedy the deficiencies.
“While hosting a pre-assessment team from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) recently, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside expressed the determination of the Agency to enforce the code saying that “ultimately all of us are working for a common purpose, a safer world through safety and security of the maritime sub sector. If we fix our different corners of the earth, the whole world will be safer for everybody. And so no effort should be spared in trying to guarantee safety and security”, Tumaka concluded.

In the meantime, the Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the Ministry of Finance Whistleblowing Programme that may see individuals, who voluntarily volunteers credible information on stolen or concealed funds, smiling home with between 2.5 per cent and five per cent of the funds when recovered.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun; and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, briefed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Adeosun said the programme was designed to encourage anyone with information about a violation, misconduct or improper activity that impacted negatively on Nigerians and government, to report such.

She said, “If there is a voluntary return of stolen or concealed public funds or assets on the account of the information provided, the whistleblower may be entitled to anywhere between 2.5 per cent (minimum) and 5.0 per cent (maximum) of the total amount recovered.

“You must have provided the government with information it does not already have and could not otherwise obtain from any other publicly available source to the government.”

The minister said the programme would serve as a stop-gap till a bill on the same matter, presently before the National Assembly, was passed into law.

She explained that there would be a secure online portal where the information could be submitted.

After submitting such information, she said the whistleblower could also check the status of his report on the portal.

Examples of information that could be submitted, according to the minister, are mismanagement or misappropriation of public funds and assets, including properties and vehicles; financial malpractice or fraud; collecting/soliciting bribes; and corruption.

Others infraction, the minister said, included diversion of revenues; fraudulent and unapproved payments; splitting of contracts; and procurement fraud that included kickbacks and over-invoicing among others.

Adeosun, however, warned that under the programme, personal matters, concerning private contracts or agreements, would not be allowed.

She explained that the information could be submitted through the online portal by e-mail or by phone.

The finance minister added that the information, which could be submitted on condition of anonymity, could be submitted through documentary evidence and provision of specific and fact-based information such as what occurred, amount involved, who was involved and dates of occurrence on the portal.

Adeosun added, “Confidentiality will be maintained to the fullest extent within the limitations of the law. If you choose not to disclose your identity, there will be no record of who you are. If you choose to disclose your identity, it will be fully protected.

“If you ‘whistleblow’ in public spirit and in good faith, you will be protected. If you feel that you have been treated badly because of your report, you can file a formal complaint.

“If you have suffered harassment, intimidation or victimisation for sharing your concerns, restitution will be made for any loss suffered.”

Adeosun added that the information provided would be reviewed and analysed to determine whether or not to open an investigation into the matter.

Additional report from Punch