WITH NEW TERMINAL COMING, WE WILL CONVENIENTLY EXCEED OUR REVENUE TARGET; AS D/COMPT ADIGUN DESCRIBES CG AS ‘A LEADER TO LOOK UP TO’
By Timothy Paul Okorocha
The Kirikiri Lighter Terminal (KLT) Command is not resting on its oars, as it is working out fresh strategies to attract importers its terminal, geared towards upscaling its N204 billion revenue target for this year.
The Command’s Area Controller, Deputy Comptroller Bolaji Lukman Adigun disclosed to This Page Newspaper that a new BCTL Terminal is being constructed and almost ready for operations, but waiting for an approval for its take off to be granted by the minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, CON.
Adigun stated that once that terminal comes on stream, it will assist a great deal in jerking up the command’s current revenue profile.
As at the moment, the command is struggling to meet the target set for it, as it depends more on the transire system of operations and at the mercy of some of the grade ‘A’ port commands stemming vessels or goods to it.
For now, only the vessels from MSC shipping line ferries cargoes to the terminal, which in turn determines the quantum of revenue accruable to it.
The Comptroller General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, PhD, MFR, is said to be taking up the issue of the new BCTL Terminal with the minister for the needed approval any time from now. At least, the KLT currently gets one vessel in a month, with 3 vessels berthed so far.
The Area controller said if the terminal can have two vessels stemmed to it, they may not need the transires to sustain their revenue profile. Adigun said he has been working round the clock attack the challenging situation at the command with fresh talks with some Indians who hitherto left , but have now promised to come back.
Though, he noted that there are low imports globally, occasioned by the blockade at the Strait of Homus. ‘At a time, I was getting worried, and I decided to be doing a comparative analysis from all the commands. I discovered that low imports is affecting all’
The volume of trade is generally low due to the quagmire at the Strait of Hormuz’ Asked how difficult it is for him running the command, he deposed; ‘it is not difficult for me, once the BCTL terminal starts operations and vessels call there, I will overshoot my target with ease’
On his appointment as acting Area Controller by the Comptroller General, he described it as a pleasant surprise; ‘I didn’t expect it, but this goes to show you the height where the Comptroller General is planning to take the service in the nearest future.”
For him to have made 8 or 9 of us on the rank of Deputy Comptroller as acting Area Controller, it tells you that the CG also has designed the future policy strategies for the service. We are eternally grateful’
According to Deputy Comptroller Adigun, ‘it takes somebody that is looking at the future of the service to appoint some of us on Deputy Comptroller’s rank as acting Controllers’ in view of the year’s gap.
He commended the positive policies introduced by the Comptroller General, such as the B’Odogwu, the Advanced ruling, ease of doing business, etcetera, which have all moved the service to another level.
Adigun, who was sometime at the PTML Valuation unit as well as served as the APM at the Onne port command, described the Comptroller General as a ‘leader to look up to’
The KLT command with 128 workforce has generated more than N40.8 billion into the federation account in the last quarter of the year.