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| Ag. DG of NIMASA, Haruna Baba Jauro |
The
Acting Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety
Agency (NIMASA) Mr Haruna Baba Jauro has denied defending the maritime security
given to the Global West Vessel Specialists Limited (GWVSL), a company believed
to be owned by Mr Government Ekpomupolo, aka Tompolo.
Jauro
was reported to have defended the contract when he visited the Chief of the
Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas over two weeks ago.
In
a statement however, the Deputy Director, Public Relations, Hajia Lami Tumaka,
said this was not true, but that the director general was quoted totally out
of context.
According
to the statement, “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”.
