Hadiza Bala Usman, Special Adviser on Policy Coordination to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has accused Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu, President of the BUA Group, of violating a contractual agreement with the Nigerian State over the Rivers State Port.

Usman, who was a former managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), reacted to Mr. Rabiu’s book: “Two years of President Tinubu: A business perspective.”

Rabiu had made reference in the article to how a concession agreement on the operation of the Rivers port was terminated by Usman during her tenure as 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.

Rabiu 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 One day, we woke up to a letter stating that the concession had been revoked, the terminal shut down, and the lease agreement terminated.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.”

However, Usman, in her response, said, “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.

“Ten years after taking possession of the terminal and operating it, BUA had not commenced the rehabilitation of the quays it was required to commence in 90 days.

“A notice of default was issued to the company on February 11, 2016, which was before I was appointed the managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority.

“The letter, with the subject: ‘Non-compliance with the reconstruction of Berths 5-8 in line with your terminal development plan as contained in your lease agreement,’ read in part: ‘We refer to the above subject matter and our earlier letters dated May 19, 2014 and February 3, 2016. We observed that you had deliberately and/or refused to commence improvement on the reconstruction of Berths 5-8 in line with the laid down procedure in the approved development plan as contained in Appendix D of the executed agreement.”

BUA had explained that the NPA had an obligation to dredge the port and repair the quay apron, but had failed to do so.

It added that the lease agreement between the parties provided for mutual rights and obligations and made provision for a dispute resolution mechanism, which explicitly stated that disputes shall be resolved by arbitration.

Explaining further, BUA said the termination of the lease agreement in 2016 prompted it to go to court and obtain an injunction against the termination.