The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has refuted news making the rounds that it is indebted to the landlord of one of its offices located at the Atlantic House on Wharf Road Apapa.
Deputy Director Corporate Communications, Hajia Lami Tumaka, in a swift reaction to the allegation said the attention of the management of the agency had been drawn to reports in some sections of the media alleging that the agency was on the verge of being evicted from its Lagos office by the owners of the property.
She said “For the records, the agency has five offices in Lagos and none of them is under any threat of eviction.
“NIMASA’s head office on 4, Burma Road Apapa is wholly owned by the agency including the Nigerian Maritime Resource Coordination Centre at the Kirikiri axis of Apapa as well as the agency’s Western Zonal Office located on 88, Marine Road, Apapa.
“The Agency has also met its full rental obligation to the owners of the Atlantic House on Wharf Road Apapa that houses its Apapa Port office.
“The NIMASA’s Tin Can Island Port Office complex owned by our sister agency, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has no outstanding liabilities whatsoever.
“To therefore allude that one of the agency’s operational areas in Lagos is on the verge of eviction owing to outstanding rent running into tens of millions of naira is not only false but also a calculated attempt at embarrassing the management of the agency,” Tumaka said.
“It is however important to state that the management of NIMASA is completely committed to the achievements of the agency’s core mandate as encapsulated in the NIMASA Act 2007 as well as other instruments that the agency is responsible for their implementation.
