NPA explains makeup of Management Positions over alleged lopsidedness

The Management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on Tuesday explained the makeup of staff in management positions, in response to allegations of lopsided appointment of General Managers supposedly to northernise the Authority.

In a statement in Lagos, the NPA said the “allegation is unfounded and riddled with untruth,” as it informed stakeholders and the general public that “the appointment and promotion of General Managers and Asst. General Managers were routinely guided by vacancy, exigencies, seniority, competency and strict application of Federal Character Principle in order to ensure equity and even distribution of positions in the organisation.”

According to the NPA, “General Managers are usually appointed from the pool of Assistant General Managers who would ordinarily have been in the service of the Authority for long enough to have acquired significant experience in every aspect of the NPA’s operations.

“Records at the moment show that while some zones may have fewer representation in General Manager Cadre, they have higher representation in the two other most senior roles of Assistant General Manager and Principal Managers.”

A breakdown given by the NPA shows that the North-Central has 3 General Managers, 6 Assistant General Managers, 36 Principal Managers and a total of 45 management positions.

The North-East has 7 General Managers, 10  Assistant General Managers, 27 Principal Managers and a total of 44 management positions.

For the Northwest , the breakdown is 5 General Managers, 3  Assistant General Managers, 26 Principal Managers and a total of 34 management positions.

The South East has 4 General Managers, 10  Assistant General Managers, 36 Principal Managers and a total of 50 management positions.

South South region has  1 General Manager, 10  Assistant General Managers, 43 Principal Managers and a total of 54 management positions.

And the  South West has  2 General Managers, 13  Assistant General Managers, 60 Principal Managers and a total of 75 management positions. The total of the different positions is given thus; 22 General Managers, 52  Assistant General Managers, 228 Principal Managers and a total of 302 management positions.

The NPA  also called attention that : “Stakeholders and the general public should also kindly note that while the General Manager, Finance is from the South East, the offices of General Manager, Seaview and General Manager Accounts do not exist, contrary to the reports being circulated.

“On allegations that some retired General Managers have had their tenures extended on contract in order to stop their “potential successors” from succeeding them, management asserts that this is totally untrue.

“The two cases that were mentioned, General Manager, Human Resources Mr. Yahaya Bukar (Aug.2018-Aug 2020) and General Manager, Engineering, Engr Ahmed Rufai Mohammed( Feb 2020-2021) had their tenures legally extended for the specific reason of the completion of some of the very important projects that were started within the period of their services as General Managers.

“This situation also applied to the immediate past General Manager, Finance, Mr. Simeon Aniobi, whose tenure was extended between Oct 2017 and October 2019.”

The management of the Authority said it remained guided by principles of fairness, equity and the law of the country in all its operations.