Musbau Babatunde
The House of Representatives,Tuesday directed the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to immediately stop the planned disbursement of $700 million to Nigerian citizens and companies.
The House also directed the agency to lay before it an audited statement of account showing all monies that have accrued to the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund within one week
It further invited the Minister of for Transportation and the Director
General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency to report to the House Committee on local content on the state of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund and how the funds have been applied over the past 20 years.
The resolutions also mandated the House Committee on Local Content to immediately commence investigations into the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund to determine all monies
that have accrued to the Fund since its establishment in the year 2003, and
report to the House within 14 days.
These was sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance brought by Hon. Henry Nwawuba from Imo, titled: ‘Urgent Need to Stop the Plan Disbursment of $700m Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund, and Investigate the Total Accrual of the Fund.’
The lawmaker in his presentation, noted that the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund was established by the Coastal and
Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act, 2003 to promote the development of indigenous
ship acquisition capacity by providing financial assistance to Nigerian operators in the domestic coastal shipping.
“In addition to monies allocated to the fund by an Act of the National Assembly, the fund draws from two percent (2%) of all contract sum performed by any vessel engaged in the coastal trade,and all monies generated pursuant to the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage)Act, 2003.
“Since the establishment of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund,there have been no reliable data as to the total amount that has so far accrued to the Fund and thus, there is no certainty as to the actual worth of the fundat the moment.
“Since the establishment of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund in the year 2003, there is no record of any Nigeria citizen or company who haveofficially benefited to from the fund as stated in the Act.
“In 2018, the thenDirector General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Dr Dakuku Peterside said the agency had concluded necessary documentation needed for the disbursement of the CVFF. He gave the accruals from the fund at that time to be in excess of US$100 million however, there is no records of such disbursement;
“Mr.Rotimi Amaechi (the then Minister of Transportation) said in December 2019 that Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund disbursement would commence in January2020;however,the funds were not disposed as promised.
“Dr. Bashir Jamoh, Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, on April 4, 2023, during the Institute of Maritime Studies’ first annual lecture at the University of Lagos in Akoka, said that the government will disburse the sum of $700m to ship owners before the end of the current administration.
“The matrix, procedure and condition of the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund is obscure and not transparent and not wholly in accordance withthe Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act, 2003.
“More than 20 years after the enactment of theCoastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage)Act, 2003,the Ministry of Transportation in collaboration with
the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) have
misappropriated the funds designated to promote the development of indigenous
ship acquisition capacity,and that the Act has not achieved its objectives.
“Much Ado About the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (shippingposition.com.ng)
2 Maritime Operators To Receive $700m For Vesse Acquisition –FG,” the motion read.
