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Hopes of passing the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill brightened yesterday as the House Committee on Shipping Services and Related Matters threw their weight behind the document, describing it as one that will sanitize the maritime industry and ultimately grow the economy.
Specifically, the lawmakers said the Bill, when passed into law, will addeess issues around arbitrary charges and a laundry list of illegalities perpetuated by operators in the sector, to the detriment of consumers.
Speaking to journalists after a Public Hearing on the repeal of the Nigerian Shippers Council Act, the Chairman of the Committee, Abdussamad Dasuki, explained that the Committee was still interfacing and collating memoranda from various stakeholders on the Bill to ensure a rich involvement of relevant stakeholders.
He noted that the next move would be to present the report before the House of Representatives for the Third Reading as prescribed by its rules of engagement.
He said: “The Public Hearing today showed that every stakeholder in the Nigerian maritime industry wants an economic regulator for the industry. The era of impunity has to stop.
“The stakeholders’ input was very useful and educating for us today.
“The Bill seeks to repeal a law which is preventing the Nigerian Shippers Council from enforcing a presidential directive concerning economic regulation of the ports. Nigeria’s maritime industry is overdue for this and we will see to its implementation.”
Also speaking at the event, during the hearing, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, explained that the new Bill, when passed into law, will enthrone and catalyse the implementation of the regulatory framework in the Nigerian maritime industry.
The Minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Olorunola Olufemi, said: “We are eager and very happy to be a part of the process that will reform the sector.
“The Ministry is in the process of collating its considerations on this Bill and submitting accordingly. We will encourage all stakeholders to also contribute their quota towards the actualisation of this process for the interest of the nation.”
In his own remarks, the Executive Secretary of the NSC, Pius Akutah, explained that concerns raised by some stakeholders will considered as the Bill, when eventually passed, will be a true reflection of the input of all relevant stakeholders.
He said: “I am very impressed with the outcome of today’s public hearing. I am particularly grateful to my Minister, the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola for his support.
“It is also one of the Key Performance Indicators that we signed with the Minister.
“On some concerns raised by some stakeholders, some of them are germaine and will be looked at going forward. We are not bringing in a law that will strangulate the sector. The intention is to bring sanity to the sector and to ensure that the sector is booming.”
The Public Hearing which was witnessed by the main Sponsor of the Bill, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abass (represented by Hon. Sada Soli) had in attendance stakeholders from the shipping, freight-forwarding, legal, sectors of the Maritime industry.
