Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha,
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, has faulted the concessioning of the nation’s seaports in 2006. Ihedioha spoke at the ‘All Mariners’ Summit’, which took place at the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), Topo, Badagry, and expressed regret that despite the fact that the House participated in a committed manner to the port reform processes to move the sector forward in line with the international best practice, the exercise was not fair and transparent. “Today however we have seen that the process was not all fair and transparent”, he said.
The legislator expressed regret that the Ports and Harbour Bill was sent to the National Assembly in August 2006 while the House was on recess, only for the members to discover that the ports had already been concessioned. “In addition, it was not a product of adequate consultation and so the content of the bill did not reflect proper industry expectations and concerns.
However, we engaged both the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Federal Ministry of Transport to address these concerns to enable the bill move forward. “But nothing was done till the first week of May 2007 when to our amazement, some provisions of the proposed law were ‘implemented ‘by ‘splitting’ NPA into two autonomous organisations”, he said.
Ihedioha, who was represented by Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, stated that the House responded by passing a resolution declaring the exercise illegal and called for a reversal to the position of the law.
Noting that the Presidency implemented the resolution in September 2007, Ihedioha, who was the Chairman, House Committee on Marine Transport for four years (2003 to 2007), expressed regret neither NPA nor the Ministry of Transport has come up with an alternative legislation to the bill previously submitted.
“All we hear is that the bill has been floating between the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), National Council for Privatisation (NCP) and the Presidency for four years while our ports are run on a concessioned arrangement, seemingly without an enabling law”, he said.
“All we hear is that the bill has been floating between the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), National Council for Privatisation (NCP) and the Presidency for four years while our ports are run on a concessioned arrangement, seemingly without an enabling law”, he said.
The Deputy Speaker however gave an assurance that he would ensure the smooth sail of the bill whenever it comes before the lower chamber of the National Assembly.
He also assured that the leadership of the House would take keen interest in and deal appropriately with the recommendations of the planned probe of the concession agreement between the Federal Ministry of Finance and Single Window Systems and Technology Limited.
On Cabotage, Ihedioha said while the Cabotage law came into being before he was appointed the chairman of the House Committee on Marine Transport, “we put in place the requisite legal instruments for its implementation, especially as regards the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF).
“Information available to me is that about $100 million has so far accrued in that account. There are questions as to why the funds are lying in the banks and have not been made available to operators for whom it was set up in the first place”, he added.
“Information available to me is that about $100 million has so far accrued in that account. There are questions as to why the funds are lying in the banks and have not been made available to operators for whom it was set up in the first place”, he added.
The lawmaker also noted that in an effort to boost development of personnel and infrastructure in the sector, the committee included obligatory provision in the NIMASA Act 2007 that guaranteed the putting aside of at least 2 per cent of their revenue for the Maritime Fund.
He explained that the idea was to take funds generated within the sector for the dedicated development of indigenous capacity and infrastructure in the sector. “Once again, information available to me is that about $100 million, including the rolled over funds of the defunct Ship Acquisition and Ship Building Fund (SASBF), has accrued into that account. There are also questions as to why the funds are still in banks and have not been made available to operators for whose benefit it was set up in the first place”, he said.
Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, in a keynote address at the summit, noted that the challenge of building capacity for the maritime sector had since been identified as critical to the sustainable development of the sector. Akpobolokemi said it was necessary for Nigeria and the sector to focus on the development of human capacity as the only viable route to harnessing the unlimited potentials in the maritime sector.
The NIMASA helmsman disclosed that the management of the agency has concluded plans to kick start the process of establishing additional maritime academies through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) framework, which would eventually evolve into full fledged maritime component of the oil and gas industry.
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