Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State on Tuesday revealed that the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) generated N162bn and spent N160bn out of the sum in one year, remitting only N2bn to government coffers.
The Edo governor made the startling revelation at the 8th quadrennial delegates conference of the National Union of Road Transport Workers.
According to Oshiomhole, another revenue generating agency of government failed to make remittance to the federations account from the taxes collected, claiming that money generated was not enough to fund its operations.
The governor spoke just as the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, urged members of the National Peace Committee not be an obstacle to the fight against corruption and recovering of funds looted by public officers.
Gov. Oshiomhole, who is Chairman of an ad-hoc committee set up by the National Economic Council to investigate revenue generating agencies, also blasted members of the Abdulsalami Abubakar-led Peace Committee and other Nigerians for asking President Muhammadu Buhari not to probe the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan because he conceded defeat in the March 28 presidential election and handed over power to the incumbent.
He said: “Last week, somebody told us that the Nigeria Port Authority admitted that it collected N162 billion in one year and spent N160 billion out of that and remitted N2 billion naira to the Federal Government.
“Is that Justice? Can you have peace in the face of this kind of abuse?”
Speaking at the same event, the NLC president declared the labour union’s support for President Buhari’s crusade against corruption.
Wabba said, “We are therefore saddened by the news making the rounds that the peace committee recently visited President Buhari to persuade him against bringing to book those involved in the scandalous theft, which we now understand runs into several trillions of naira.
“We call on the eminent members of this committee not to diminish their standing in the eyes of the Nigerian public by trying to stand in the way or better still, act as an obstacle to the retrieval of our commonwealth by these erstwhile public officers, who have plainly betrayed the trust of the Nigerian people”.
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