Mr. Gabriele Volpi, majority shareholder of Intels Nigeria Limited, co-owned by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has apologised to the Buhari government and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) over the termination of the Pilotage Agency Agreement between his company and NPA.
The oil and gas logistics giant operates in Onne, Rivers State, Warri, Delta State and Lagos.
Government had directed the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to terminate the boats pilotage monitoring and supervision agreement that the agency has with Intels.
NPA had based termination of the contract with the oil and gas logistics giant on its alleged refusal to get on the Treasury Single Account (TSA) platform.
In a chat with Thisday, Volpi, who holds dual Italian and Nigerian citizenship, said although he was not involved in the negotiations between his firm and NPA over the disagreement on the pilotage agreement, the company was set to peace talks.
He also resolved to ensure that Intels undertakes a reconciliation process with the NPA and transfers all the revenue collected from the boats monitoring and supervision services in Nigerian maritime waters to the TSA with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in compliance with the policy of the federal government.
“We want to apologise to the federal government and NPA over this disagreement with Intels. I was not personally involved in the negotiations with NPA, but we apologise for what has happened.
“We intend to comply with the directive of government and transfer all the revenue to the TSA because we are a law-abiding company,” Volpi informed THISDAY on the phone.
Volpi added that his company was committed to co-operating with the federal government and the NPA in the development of the country’s maritime sector, including the construction of the Badagry deep seaport in Lagos State.
“We are committed to co-operating with the government and NPA in the development of Nigeria’s maritime sector and this includes the Badagry deep seaport.
“The Badagry deep seaport is a massive undertaking which will cost billions of dollars and will be the biggest in Africa and would turn Nigeria into a regional hub for ships bringing goods to the continent.
“It will also help to move a lot of shipping activities at the Apapa and Tin-can Island ports and help to decongest Apapa, so we are serious about our investments in Nigeria,” Volpi added.
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