THE face-off between the Nigeria Ports Authority and the BUA Port and Terminals may have come to an end, thanks to the intervention of the House Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation and the Attorney General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami.

The mediation by the Rep. Ibrahim Makama-headed committee and the AGF has allowed the two warring parties to come to an agreement on an imbroglio that had been on since June, 2019.

The cause of the misunderstanding, The Nation learnt, was the bad state of the Terminal B of the Port Harcourt Port Complex, which was concessioned to BUA Ports and Terminals Ltd (Terminal B consists of four berths 5, 6, 7, and 8).

Both the Nigerian Ports Authority and BUA are in arbitration at the International Chambers of Commerce, London and BUA is at the High Court, Lagos, sueing the Managing Director of the NPA, the Executive Director, Marine and Operations, and Port Manager, Rivers Port for contempt of the Order of court.

NPA claimed that BUA was not making investment in fixed and moveable assets for operational efficiency as agreed. It said it headed for ICC after many meetings and letters proved ineffective.

'The concessionaire has not demonstrated good faith in its dealing with the Authority, and for over (13) thirteen years refused and or failed to carry out the needed improvements on the premises.'

NPA then decommissioned BUA's terminal 'until the berths could be rehabilitated and put back into use,' it said.

But BUA 'challenged the purported termination notice in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/633/17 at the Federal High Court of Nigeria. On 18th January 2018 and upon the application of BUA, the court ordered a stay of proceeding pending arbitration,' BUA said in a letter to the House committee. The flouting of the court order resulted in the Contempt of Court proceeding by BUA.

However, an amiable resolution was reached at a meeting which had NPA, BUA Ports and Terminals Limited (BUA), the Bureau of Public Enterprises, (BPE) and the representative of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami, present on Thursday, last week.

The resolution will allow 100 BUA employees and over 300 dock workers to return to work.

The resolutions, a copy of which is in possession of The Nation reads: 'BUA is to give a withdrawal /notice of discontinuance in respect of the contempt proceedings before the Federal High Court and serve copies to parties including the committee, AGF and BPE latest by Wednesday, 18th March, 2020.

'BUA should also present to the committee, a detailed work programme for the remedial works at berth 5 and for the complete rehabilitation and reconstruction of berths 5-8 latest by Wednesday 18th March, 2020.

'NPA should consider BUA's request for their remedial works at Berth 5 and rehabilitation or reconstruction of berths 5-8 within 7 days of the eventual reopening of the terminal operations of berths 6 and 7 while remedial works on berth 5 is ongoing before the end of March, 2020.

According to the resolution, 'parties must finalise by harmonizing proposed Terms of Settlement and file same before the ICC deadline of 6th May, 2020.'

Earlier, the AGF had written a letter dated 27th February 2020 to the secretariat of ICC Arbitration directing the parties to explore an amicable settlement. On this basis, BUA requested a suspension of the Arbitration for a three (3) month period.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan