•To investigate total accrual, summons transport minister, others
• Calls for suspension of concession of Ajaokuta Steel, National Iron Ore company
Udora Orizu and Juliet Akoje in Abuja
The House of Representatives has directed the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to immediately stop the planned disbursement of $700 million Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund to individuals and companies.
The House also asked the agency to lay before it, an audited statement of account showing all monies that had accrued to the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund not later than seven days from the date of the lawmakers’ resolution.
It further invited the Minister of Transportation and the Director-General, NIMASA 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.
These resolutions were sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance, sponsored by Hon. Henry Nwawuba at plenary yesterday. Moving the motion, Nwawuba said 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.
He said 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.
The lawmaker expressed concern that 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 fund at the moment.
He expressed concern that the matrix, procedure and condition of the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund was obscure and not transparent and not wholly in accordance with the Cabotage Act.
He added: “Since the establishment of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund in 2003, there is no record of any Nigerian citizen or company who have officially benefited from the fund as stated in the Act.
“In 2018, the then Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); 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.
“Rotimi Amaechi (the then Minister of Transportation) said in December 2019 that Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund disbursement would commence in January 2020. However, the funds were not disposed as promised. 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.”
Adopting the motion, the House directed its 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.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives yesterday has called on the federal government to suspend the ongoing process for the concession of the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and the National Iron Ore Mining Company for proper stakeholder consultations.
The House also mandated its Committee on Steel to investigate allegations of infractions to due process and noncompliance with due diligence procedures.
Consequently, the lawmakers invited the Minister of Mines and Steel Development to appear before the House in plenary session to explain details of the concession process.
The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion on matters of urgent public importance on the urgent need to suspend the last minute concession of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and the National Iron Ore Mining Company, Itakpe sponsored by Hon. Abdullahi Ibrahim Ali Halims during plenary.
He further noted that, “the steel industry remains the backbone of development meant to provide the basic raw materials for public infrastructure development in key sectors of the economy therefore very important in any meaningful efforts towards achieving economic prosperity and development of the nation as no economy can survive without its steel industry functioning optimally.
“The eleventh hour request for the concession of these strategic national assets like the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and the National Iron Ore Mining Company by the Ministry at the twilight of the current administration having left with less than 30 days to the end of an 8-year tenure seems to be self-serving, unpatriotic and not of national interest.”
