The Deputy Director/Head Public Relations, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Hajia Lami Tumaka has said that there was never a time the Acting Director-General of NIMASA, Mr. Haruna Baba Jauro came out to defend Tompolo’s maritime security contract as widely reported in some sections of the media.
Hajia Tumaka who made this known in a press release she issued on Tuesday in Lagos stated that the Acting Director-General was quoted out of context urging the general public to ignore such reports.
She explained that Mr. Haruna did not at any point during the working visit to the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas on 29th of September, 2015 as reported or at any other for a defended Tompolo’s maritime security contract as there was no such contract in the first place.
According to her,”Reports have been making the rounds since the working visit of the Acting Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Mr. Haruna Baba Jauro to the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas on 29th of September 2015 that the DG defended “Tompolo’s maritime security contract” with the Agency.
“But for the fact that the DG was quoted completely out of context, the Agency would have ignored these reports.
“It is instructive to note that Mr. Haruna Jauro did not at any point during the said visit, or at any other fora for that matter, defend ‘Tompolo’s maritime security contract’ because there is no such contract in the first place.
“What the DG said and which should be put on record is that “Global West Vessel Specialists Limited (GWVSL) has an existing Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement with NIMASA wherein the vendor’s mandate involves procuring, bunkering and operating platforms on behalf of NIMASA on a Supply, Operate and Transfer (SOT) basis for a 10 year period as approved by the Federal Government in 2012 and it is presently in its third year”.
“According to Mr. Jauro, the vessels, which ownership will revert to NIMASA after the contract period, are manned by officials of NIMASA and personnel of the Nigerian Navy for the enforcement of the Agency’s mandate.
“This is not the same thing with a maritime security contract as many publications have alleged. It is therefore mischievous for anyone to allude that the Director General of NIMASA has defended a maritime security contract being executed by Tompolo on behalf of the Agency.
“The Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Ibas also re-echoed this position at the same event when he said “we (Nigerian Navy) provide security, we arm those ships. The Nigerian Navy is fully manning those boats and we still do”.
“It has become necessary to clarify this position as it is capable of misleading unsuspecting members of the public”.
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