Managing Director of Calabar Channel Management, CCM, Company Limited, Mr. Bart Eenoo, has said that neither his company nor its management was aware of the purported termination of its Joint Venture Agreement, JVA, with the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, over the dredging of the Calabar Channel.

Reacting to reports credited to the Managing Director of NPA, Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman  to the effect that the NPA had terminated  the JVA with the Niger-Global Engineering and Technical Company Ltd, NGETCL, for the dredging of the Calabar Channel  purportedly over the Violation of Procurement Act, Eenoo said though his company would not react  to  speculations as it had not received any such letter from the NPA or any other person, it was trite to point out that the contract followed due process and never violated any provision of the Procurement Act.

He said that the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, vide a letter referenced BPP/S.1/CID/14/VOL.1/088, dated August 15, 2014 and signed by the then Director General, Engr. Emeka Ezeh, approved the project.

Eenoo said that the letter entitled: RE: Contract for the Maintenance Dredging Between Niger-Global And Technical Company And The Nigerian Ports Authority, reads,  “This is to refer to the Federal Ministry of Transport letter Reference No.TPROC/NPA/P/67/2011/1/314  dated August 11, 2014. “The Bureau has no objection to the implementation of the project as approved by Mr. President.”

According to the MD, “What the NPA MD was probably relying on was an earlier response by BPP to an initial petition by the former Board Chairman of NPA to the Presidency against the project which the President then, referred to the BPP which after evaluating the matter gave the “No Objection Certificate” and advised that the complaint by the former Board Chairman was merely a personal difference which it said should not affect the integrity of the project. The former Chairman also wrote to withdraw the petition.”