The Senate Joint Committee on Navy, Marine Transport and Finance on Wednesday, demanded that the Director-General, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency ( NIMASA) Mr Dakuku Peterside, to show up before it unfailingly on Thursday.
This order is coming on the heels of the N263.89 billion illegal security services carried out by the Ocean Marine Solutions Ltd, {OMLS} which the committee is probing.
Dakuku, who was absent at the hearing but rather chose to be represented at the hearing by the Principal Legal Officer of the agency, Mr Haruna Argungu had infuriated the Senate. The Senate Committee Chairman, Sen. George Sekibo, told Argungu to inform Peterside to appear before the committee unfailingly on Dec. 5, failing which a warrant of arrest would be issued against him by the Senate. The committee refused to honour Argungu in that capacity by walking him out of the session in the presence of the Minister of State, Transportation, Sen. Gbemisola Saraki.
Sekibo further said that “the investigative hearing was supposed to have been held earlier but shifted to allow Peterside and other key players in Marine Transport to attend the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) conference which took place in London.
“It is annoying that after that grace given to him , he still refused to appear before us. “This is unacceptable as submitted by other members of the committee,” Sekibo said. Responding, Saraki said OMSL contract on security services at the ports had not been suspended or dismantled as claimed by the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Hadiza Usman on Tuesday. She explained to the committee that the ministry had scheduled a meeting with all stakeholders on the security services at the ports for Dec. 9, in Lagos.