BUA fires back at Tinubu’s aide over terminated port concession deal

The management of BUA Group has openly challenged Hadiza Bala Usman, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Coordination, over her recent comments regarding the group’s terminated port concession agreement with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

In a statement released on Sunday, BUA Group demanded that Usman clearly identify the specific clause or clauses that the company allegedly violated, which justified the termination of the concession.

BUA also accused Usman of ignoring multiple court judgments and disregarding an arbitration process initiated under former President Muhammadu Buhari, which, according to the group, should have guided the resolution of the dispute.

Highlighting its faith in the current administration’s commitment to due process, BUA said President Tinubu’s approach contrasts sharply with the “arbitrariness” that characterized Usman’s tenure as Managing Director of the NPA. The group added that Tinubu’s reinforcement of legal and procedural standards further invalidates the basis of Usman’s claims.

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BUA had alleged that the concession entered into with the NPA was terminated by Usman, alleging her plot to further the business interest of her friend, who competes with BUA Group.

Further noting how the courts reversed Usman’s termination of the concession, and how Buhari constituted a legal team to review the actions and how she further snubbed the review, BUA affirmed that the new management of the NPA reversed her actions in sustaining the sanctity of the contract.

BUA said: “We have taken note of recent public statements made by Bala Usman, the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), who was sacked from office.

In her comments, she accused BUA Group and our Chairman, Abdul Samad Rabiu, of breaching a concession agreement and distorting facts.

“BUA entered into a valid long lease agreement in 2006 with the NPA to rehabilitate and operate Terminal B at Rivers Port in Port Harcourt, Rivers State long before Usman’s appointment’

“BUA had begun formal engagement with the NPA to address outstanding remedial works and infrastructural deficiencies. These discussions were near conclusion when she assumed office.”

Recall that Bala Usman, had accused the chairman of BUA Group, Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu of “persistently violating his contractual obligations” to Nigeria.

Usman, spoke in response to Rabiu’s article titled, “Two years of President Tinubu: A business perspective.”

Rabiu had in the article made reference to how a concession agreement on the operation of Rivers port was terminated by Usman during her tenure as the NPA managing director in a renewed battle between her and the group between 2016 and 2021.

The chairman of the BUA Group, in the article, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom he stated had improved the business environment for private enterprises, unlike in the past when there were “arbitrary shutdowns” of businesses.

He wrote: “We no longer worry about arbitrary shutdowns or politically motivated disruptions. Let me give a real example. We started a new business in Port Harcourt four or five years ago under BUA Foods, operating at the Rivers ports under a concession with the Nigerian Ports Authority. It was going very well. One day, we woke up to a letter stating that the concession had been revoked, the terminal shut down and the lease agreement terminated. There was no warning, no issue, no conflict.

“Later, we discovered that the managing director of the NPA at the time decided to close the business, simply because our operations were competing with those of her friend. She wanted to impress her friend. That was the only reason.”

But Usman, in her response, described Rabiu’s claim of waking up to a letter terminating the concession agreement as “a blatant lie.”

She stated, “It is not just that the BUA Group received numerous notifications and warnings about its negligence of contractual responsibilities; some of these warnings preceded my tenure as managing director.

“Although the article otherwise stated factual and commendable efforts of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to stabilise the business climate in Nigeria, his narration of the dispute between the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the BUA Group is, to say the least, shameful.”

While explaining the facts of the matter, Usman recalled that BUA Ports and Terminal Limited became concessionaires of Rivers Port Terminal B for a 20-year tenure through a concession agreement contract dated May 11, 2006, adding that the terminal was handed over to them for use with effect from August 10, 2006.