Intels, the oil servicing, and logistics company linked with Nigeria’s former vice president, Atiku Abubakar has apologised to the federal government over the dispute that lead to the termination of the pilotage contract with Nigeria.
Nigeria government through the office of the attorney general of the federation had directed the Nigeria Ports Authority to terminate its contract with Intels following the company’s refusal to comply with TSA policy.
In an apparent turn around from its earlier stance, Intels founder, Gabriele Volpi said the company will, “comply with the directive of government” and transfer all the revenue collected from the boats monitoring and supervision services in Nigerian maritime waters to the TSA.
Volpi told Thisday, “We want to apologise to the federal government and NPA over this disagreement with Intels. I was not personally involved in the negotiations with NPA, but we apologise for what has happened.”
“We intend to comply with the directive of government and transfer all the revenue to the TSA because we are a law-abiding company.
Furthermore, Volpi said Intels remained committed to the development of the Badagry deep seaport.
“We are committed to co-operating with the government and NPA in the development of Nigeria’s maritime sector and this includes the Badagry deep seaport,” he said.
“The Badagry deep seaport is a massive undertaking which will cost billions of dollars and will be the biggest in Africa and would turn Nigeria into a regional hub for ships bringing goods to the continent.
“It will also help to move a lot of shipping activities at the Apapa and Tin-can Island ports and help to decongest Apapa, so we are serious about our investments in Nigeria.”