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Tag: Cabotage

  • Stakeholders await $360m Cabotage fund

    Stakeholders await $360m Cabotage fund

    Stakeholders in the maritime industry have advised the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola and the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dayo Mobereola to take all the necessary steps that will facilitate quick disbursement of  the  Cabotage Vessels Finance Fund  (CVFF), to qualified indigenous shipowners and boost the economy

    The agitation, stakeholders said, became necessary following the decision of some of the ship owners to meet the conditions and the criteria set by the Federal Government and the Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs), as announced last year, by the immediate past Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh.

    Findings revealed that the Union, Zenith, Polaris, UBA, and Jaiz Bank are the designated PLIs for disbursing the huge fund by NIMASA.

    The removal of Jamoh, a maritime lawyer, Muhammed Oluwaseyi  said, has cast aspersions and set tongues wagging on the delay in the quick disbursement of the fund to promote shipping activities across the country and boost the economy.

     The money, the lawyer said, is about $360 million in the kitty of NIMASA.

     While acknowledging the need for the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy to ensure that the fund does not get to unqualified indigenous shipowners, Muhammed said, the delay in disbursement of the fund is affecting shipping and allied businesses negativey in the country.

     “The Cabotage Fund (CVFF) was established with the Nigerian Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act of 2003 to empower indigenous shipowners to acquire vessels to take control of shipping, otherwise known as cabotage trade.

     “Although the Act was aimed at limiting foreign participation in domestic coastal trade and  reserve commercial transportation within coastal and inland waters for vessels flying the Nigerian flag and owned by Nigerians but more than 20 years after, it is sad that foreigners are still dominating the trade because of the failure of NIMASA to ensure that the funds are disbursed to promote indigenous fleet,” Muhammed said.

     Another lawyer and university don, Dr Dipo Alaka said “although majority of these indigenous ship owners don’t have the ship of their own. Some of them are portfolios shipowners. But we are aware that some of them are doing the business the way it should be done. Therefore, NIMASA needs to give this category of people the opportunity to access the fund.

     Meanwhile, the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM) has warned the Federal Government to be wary of portfolio indigenous shipowners from hijacking the fund.

     Its President, Capt Tajudeen Alao, said some of the shipowners are just waiting to collect the funds for purposes than other capacity development.

     Captain Alao said: “The CVFF should be disbursed to address gaps noticed in our maritime industry.

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     “The fund should not be disbursed based on those that contributed into the fund because that will amount to compensation for the contributors.

     “For instance, over 80 per cent of contribution that accrued into the CVFF came in through tanker operations. If we use that criteria to disburse and end up disbursing the funds to tanker operators, if they buy more tankers, will that address the issue of unemployment in Nigeria?

     Although, a member of Ship owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) who does not want his name in print admitted that most of their members cannot meet up with the 15 per cent criteria set by the Federal Government, he however, suggested that money should be disbursed to those that have shown their genuine interest to meet the criteria set by the government.

     He lamented the ridiculous requirements requested by banks, saying the committee set up by the association was working on the 15 per cent equity to be provided by ship owners.

     He explained further that indigenous shipowners could explore an arrangement utilised by oil and gas operators who get 100 per cent equity backing from the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), and PLIs.

     Sources closed to NIMASA said, that not less than four indigenous ship owners have shown interest to access the fund and pay back within the stipulated period if the minister gives the go ahead for the fund to be disbursed anytime from now.

  • Hope rises on full Cabotage implementation

    Hope for proper implementation of the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act 2003 rose last week with stakeholders restating their com-mitment to the law.

    At a meeting last week, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and key industry players, agreed to end Cabotage waivers for non-indigenous ship owners over the next five years.

    Part III, Section 9-11 of the Act provides for waivers for ownership and manning of Cabotage vessels by Nigerians and build vessels, where capacity is lacking.

    However, to encourage more indigenous participation, NIMASA  said it will stop the practice and implement the New Cabotage Compliance Strategy (NCCS) under which certain categories of waivers have been suspended. Basically, the Cabotage Act 2003 is aimed at promoting indigenous participation of locals in shipping.

    At the meeting held in Lagos, the need for collaboration to facilitate optimal implementation of the Cabotage Act was highlighted. NIMASA’s Director-General, Dakuku Peterside, said the agency was determined to ensure that Cabotage waivers were stopped.

    Represented by the Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Mr. Gambo Ahmed, the DG said the agency’s mandate is to promote and regulate shipping, and not to stifle any business.

    He assured of the commitment of NIMASA to promoting, protecting and providing the enabling environment to ensure the growth of indigenous ship owners so that they could compete with their international counterparts.

    According to him, part of the strategy to end the issuance of waivers was to develop infrastructural capacity and human capital for training seafarers to attain global standards. The DG urged stake-holders to cooperate with the agency to realise the implementation of maritime law, saying it held huge potential to create jobs, add to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and bring about a boom in the economy.

    Similarly, a former DG of the agency, Mr. Temisan Omatseye, noted that NIMASA was the only agency recognised by the government to regulate shipping. He urged the agency to use the powers bestowed on it by law to ensure compliance with the Cabotage Act and apply punitive measures against erring shipping firms.

    “If we don’t begin to enforce the Cabotage law, the use of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) will be defeated,” Omatseye added.

    Supporting the initiative, the Managing Director, TMC Shipping Pvt., India, Mr. Neeraj Kumar, com-mended the agency for implemen-tating the Act, stating that the ports are critical to economic growth.

    Kumar pledged India’s willingness to collaborate with Nigeria, especially in shipbuilding.

    Other participants at the event applauded the efforts of the management of NIMASA to actualising a robust maritime sector through various stakeholder-oriented programmes and promised their support and cooperation.

    Peterside also restated NIMASA’s commitment to partnerships with international institutions for sea time training of Nigerians under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).

    Speaking during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NIMASA and the Maritime Academy of India in Lagos, he said partnership is the way to go.

    The MoU covers on-board sea time training of some graduates of the NSDP programme. Sixty cadets, to be trained in three batches of 20 each, will benefit from this partnership.

    “This MoU will help reduce the amount of cadets awaiting sea-time by clearing up the first 60 of the backlog in three batches of 20 each,” Dakuku stated.

    He expressed NIMASA’s determination to explore and use appropriate avenues to ensure that seafarers got the right exposure and training to excel in the global maritime space, saying in the future Nigeria would be a supplier of qualified seafarers to the world.

    Dakuku said the agency was negotiating with other academies with access to ocean going training vessels in countries like Turkey and United Kingdom to secure sea time for Nigerians.

    NIMASA’s aim, he further said, is to replicate in Nigeria the progress recorded under similar partnerships in countries, like Philippines, in the area of providing seafarers to the international market.

    Kumar praised NIMASA’s effort to develop the seafarers and commended the NSDP initiative. TMC is India’s leading maritime education, training and recruitment firm.

    NIMASA has trained about 2000 Nigerians under the NSDP scheme, with many cadets at various stages of completion of the programme. The agency is tackling the issue of sea-time training for the cadets through full sponsorship, in partnership with some international institutions that have access to ocean-going training vessels.

    Some cadets have done their on-board sea-time training under the first phase of the NIMASA fully-sponsored sea time training, facilitated alongside the Arab Academy of Science, Technology and Marine Transportation in Alexandria, Egypt. On-board training for another set of cadets was facilitated by the South Tyneside College, United Kingdom (UK).

    The agency has also trained some Nigerians under a partnership with universities in The Philippines.

  • Cabotage: ‘Nigeria still losing billions yearly to foreign firms’

    Despite the Cabotage Law, Nigeria is losing billions of naira yearly to foreign ship yards. Most ship owners take thier vessels to other countries for repair and dry docking, it was learnt.

    Under the law, coastal trade is reserved for indigenous shipowners, while foreign firms are only allowed to participate in the business subject to a waiver by the Federal Government.

    To the Shipowners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), the law has not served its purpose because its members cannot handle cargoes that pass through the waterways.

    Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, SOAN’s President Greg Ogbeifun urged the government to engage  its members in crude oil lifting.

    Sources close to the association said a vessel involved in offshore operations makes at least $5,000 daily. This, according to a source, is the least amount collected by foreign vessels on the nation’s waters.

    The country, the source said, is losing over $20 billion to foreign ship yards and over $10 billion to foreigners yearly  because of the government’s alleged failure to engage indigenous ship chandlers. The source also said about N45 billion was being lost yearly due to the preference given to foreign ship owners and their choice of insurers over indigenous companies in the lifting and importation of fuel.

    The Federal Government, a source said, loses over N3.5 billion monthly in freight insurance, urging the government to arrest the situation.

    A senior Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)  official, who pleaded not to be named, said the amount foreign ship owners pay to the agency and others was small compared to what they repatriate.

    He put the Federal Government’s loss at over N2 trillion yearly, wondering why the loopholes were yet to be plugged by the President Buhari’s administration.

    Indigenous insurance companies, he said, were sidelined in the insurance of imported fuel both locally and internationally

    He said: “The sorry situation we find our country as a maritime nation is ridiculous and in absolute contravention of the Local Content Act.

    “For instance, Nigerian ship chandlers are supposed to be given 95 per cent of business oppor-tunities in the ship chandelling industry and other opportunities to render services in the ships. The Federal Government needs to ensure that the local content Act is wholly implemented in order to create jobs for Nigerians in the maritime, oil and gas sectors effectively.

    He continued: “In the oil and gas industry, Nigeria has close to 500 oil wells. For each well, there is a rig, which is supported by a minimum of five ships, and they are called oil support vessels. Each of the foreign ships earn $5,000, while others earn $150,000 per day.

    “The Cabotage Act seeks to reserve domestic coastal trade or Cabotage trade within Nigerian coastal and inland waters to vessels built and registered in the country, wholly owned and manned by Nigerian citizens. Foreign-owned vessels and companies are, however, allowed to participate in Cabotage trade within Nigerian waters, subject to obtaining a waiver and or license from the Federal Ministry of Transport.

    He added: “I can say conveniently that even in the crude oil carriage that they do today, if SOAN, ISAN are allowed to do 60 per cent of their own allocation, they will be putting back more than about N1.8 trillion or N2trillion into the economy and that is almost half of the  budget.

    “With the poor state of our economy, I think it would be suicidal for us to continue to engage foreigners to lift our crude. The government must ensure that every dollar we pay for the carriage of our oil comes into the economy,” he said.

    Ogbeifun, however, promised that after the election, the group would promote the interest of Nigerian-owned vessels and provide a forum for dialogue with relevant government agencies.

    “SOAN comprise ship owning companies with proven track records of activities in the industry recognised by upstream and downstream sectors of the shipping industry as well as by the private and public sectors of the industry.

    Ogbeifun, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Starz Group, said his company had contributed immensely to the Cabotage fund and that SOAN was set up to facilitate participation of Nigerian shipowners in international fora on shipping matters through effective representation

    “Part of our job is to cultivate and maintain good relations with the government and maritime authorities by contributing expertise in formulating policies and regulations on national and maritime activities,” he said.

  • Peterside: IOCs must obey cabotage, other laws

    Peterside: IOCs must obey cabotage, other laws

    The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has warned that violation of cabotage and environmental laws by the International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the country will attract sanctions.

    Peterside who spoke when he engaged representatives of the IOCs in Lagos on ways of fostering a closer synergy to develop the economy,  urged the IOCs to be mindful of all existing laws and regulations in the discharge of their duties as applicable sanctions will be meted out to erring operators.

    He warned that actions such as flouting of Cabotage Act, negative impact to the environment from oil exploration activities, non payment of statutory levies due to the government and inadequate information sharing shall attract strict sanctions.

  • ‘Our plan for Cabotage Fund’

    ‘Our plan for Cabotage Fund’

    The Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has pledged to adhere to statutory due diligence in the administration of the Cabotage Fund.

    NIMASA’s Director-General Dr Dakuku Peterside said with the clamour for a national shipping line, there was need to strengthen administration of the fund.

    Peterside told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of a news conference in Lagos yesterday that the fund was set up to encourage Nigeria ship owners to be able to acquire and maintain vessels.

    The DG regretted the maladministration that had characterised the fund, which, he said, had made it inoperative.

    “We are aware of the complaints of the contributors (ship owners) of the fund and their predicament in accessing it.

    “The fund, if well administered, will ensure that Nigeria has sea-going vessels at all times, with a large number of Nigerian seafarers on board. It is a pride to see our national flag hoisted on transnational vessels,’’ Peterside said.

    According to him, the idea will absorb many of the country’s trained but idle seafarers, thereby adding to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    He said the administration would tend to emulate countries, such as the Philippines in exporting seafarers to other countries, thereby stemming piracy on board.

    Peterside said the agency was training middle-cadre manpower at the maritime academy at Oron, while the senior officers were being trained abroad.

    He noted that NIMASA’s primary objective did not include the setting-up of a Maritime University, as was being propelled by the ousted leadership of the agency.

    “The Cabotage Fund, under the present leadership, will be channelled for what it is meant for and not for a university.

    “The government is reviewing the concept of setting up the university, therefore, whatever the official stance is, will be our guiding principle,’’ the DG added.

  • Make Cabotage Fund public, Amaechi, NIMASA urged

    Make Cabotage Fund public, Amaechi, NIMASA urged

    What is the size of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) domiciled with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)? How much interest has accrued on the fund? How much has been spent from it and for what?

    These are the posers indigenous ship owners and other stakeholders want Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi and Acting Director-General of nimasa Pastor Haruna Baba Jauro to answer.

    The CVFF was created by the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act, 2003, to promote ship acquisition by supporting ship owners.

    Section 42, Part VIII of Section 44 of the Act empowers NIMASA to collect and administer the fund, under guidelines by the Minister of Transport, after approval by the National Assembly.

    Sources at the Federal Ministry of Transport alleged at the weekend that part of the N50 billon CVFF fund has been spent without visible development in the industry.

    The money, the senior official said, should be disbursed, if it has not gone down the drain.

    The fund, the official said, was established 12 years ago to boost local content in the shipping industry.

    Ship owners, who spoke with The Nation, said they want Amaechi and Pastor Jauro to publish the amount  realised by NIMASA from the management of the fund.

    A counsel to one of the shipping firms, Mr Dipo Alaka, said the call became necessary following the arraignment of a former Director-General of the agency, Mr Patrick Akpobolokemi, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) last week.

    Akpobolokemi was arraigned with nine others, including two companies, before Justice Saliu Saidu of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

    They were accused of converting N3.4 billion belonging to NIMASA to themselves.

    The lawyer alleged that the CVFF has grown to billions of dollars without any shipping firm benefitting from it.

    Alaka lamented that most contributors do not know the actual amount in NIMASA’s care, saying it was time for the Minister and the new management of the agency declared the amount since it is not the source but just a collector of the fund.

    Alaka told The Nation that his clients were sad that they did  not benefit from the fund.

    A maritime bank, he said, would be more appropriate to handle the CVFF, adding that NIMASA should not  keep the fund anymore.

    “The only way the APC-led Federal Government can support the maritime sector is funding, but since the first National Maritime Authority (NMA) Act was created up till NIMASA, all the money that have been allocated for the CVFF, not a dime has been released, showing that there is a problem with the agency saddled with the management of the fund.

    “Unconfirmed source within the agency told my clients that a huge part of the money was tinkered with by a former DG during the last presidential election. If the allegation is true, that was wrong because the money does not belong to NIMASA. The objective was using it to develop local shipping industry,” he said.

    He wondered how many could say the NMA or NIMASA supported them to buy a ship.

    Alaka challenged NIMASA’s Acting DG to tell Nigerians the actual amount in the fund and why the money had not been disbursed.

    Also, Lagos State Shippers Association President Rev Jonathan Nicol said the non-disbursement of the fund by NIMASA was wrong, urging the management of the agency to disburse it and take steps to streamline and profile Nigerian ship owners.

     

  • Cabotage fund hits N36b as NISA clears NIMASA

    Cabotage fund hits N36b as NISA clears NIMASA

    The Nigerian Ship Owners Association (NISA) has absolved the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) of being responsible for inability to access to Cabotage Fund by ship owners. The fund as at end of September stood at N36 billion.

    The President of NISA, Capt. Dada Labinjo told The Nation that the fund is currently N36 billion, but  noted that contrary to reports that NIMASA has been responsible for not allowing ship owners to access the fund as provided in the Cabotage Act, the agency is only a custodian of the fund while directive for its disbursement as loans to ship owners resides with the Federal Government.

    There have been reports about ship owners that suffer dearth of funds to maintain their vessels but were unable to access the fund, which they are statutorily entitled to .

    The Cabotage law, which is the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act, was passed into law in 2003 and among the provisions in the Act is the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), which is pooled from the two per cent deductions from all contracts awarded under the Cabotage regime. The essence of the Fund is to empower indigenous ship owners to be active in maritime sector by acquiring ships that have adequate tonnage to participate in coastal and inland trade and perhaps, with time, take over from foreigners currently dominate the coastal and deep sea shipping activities.

    However, 11 years after the law was passed the impact of the CVFF has not been felt either in terms of loans to ship owners or by increasing dominance of the coastal shipping by indigenous ship owners, stakeholders said.

    Also Labinjo debunked reports that 80 per cent of ships owned by indigenous players are substandard. He said: “I will never agree with that position. I don’t agree with it not because I’m saying that our ships are perfect. Substandard is not a good comment. Every ship is owned by the nation where it is registered. Every ship is owned by the flag it bears, which is the country. That is why they say flag your ship.

    “Yes I’m the beneficial owner of the ship but it is the country that owns it because in times of crisis, the country will convert it like it happened during the Falkland crisis, when Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship) was converted for military use. So that is why countries like to have their own  ships in their own register because in times of emergency and crisis you cannot leave Nigerian ships to call Cameroonian ships to come and help you, they will not answer you. But you can commandeer that of Captain Labinjo or that of any Nigerian.

    “That is the reason the country owns the ships. I’m not saying our ships are the best in the world. I’ve been to India, Indonesia and Singapore, among other countries and I have seen the way things are there. What I know is that we have a bad habit in Nigeria and that is maintenance issue. No doubt about it, but I’m assuring you and everybody that as the President of NISA, we will overcome that challenge.

  • Ship owners decry failure to enforce Cabotage Act

    Ship Owners have condemned the inability of the Federal Government to enforce the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003 (Cabotage Act) to enable them to participate in crude oil lifting.

    ISAN General Secretary Capt. Niyi Labinjo said the government should implement the law to allow indigenous shipping companies participate in the oil business.

    He said local ship firms should be given the leverage to lift the corresponding portion of the crude meant for export, stating that the banks were willing to support them with the required financial backing if the government could allocate to them an appreciable volume of crude oil to lift. He told The Nation that in Brazil, the government approved about 700 agencies that were issued certificates of compliance on local content.

    Labinjo said about five years ago, the government trained 200 cadets under the National Seafarers Development Programme in readiness to drive the effort, but regretted that since there was not enough shipping companies to work with, the cadets have remained jobless.

    He advised the government to provide enough funds for the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Akwa Ibom, to enable it to produce skillful cadets.

    He sought proper compliance with the Nigerian Content Act and encouragement of the association to participate fully in the Cabotage regime.

    “We will continue to press the government. We’ll continue to make our views known about the need for proper compliance with Cabotage; about the need for proper compliance with the Nigerian Content Act,” he said.

  • Cabotage levies: NIMASA, NLNG settle out of court

    Cabotage levies: NIMASA, NLNG settle out of court

    FRESH fact emerged at the weekend that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) had withdrew its lawsuit against the Nigeria Liquified and Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited.

    The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN) was reported to have prevailed on the NIMASA to withdraw the suit.

    It would be recalled that NIMASA had taken the management of the NLNG to court following arguments over whether or not the latter ought to pay 2 % cabotage and 3 % freight levies for shipping by Bonny Gas Limited, a subsidiary of NLNG, estimated at over $400million to NIMASA from September 2007 till date.

    The case which had began under Dr. Ade Dosunmu, the erstwhile Director-General of the agency and was further pursued by his predecessor, Temisan Omatseye, has been a hotly debated issue and reportedly led to the abrupt exit of Omatseye who has been on suspension in the last two years, sources said.

    The Nation can authoritatively report that the matter hitherto under Justice Nyako of the Federal High Court, is presently before Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court, Lagos, and initially billed for further hearing in February will not be heard as both parties are returning to the negotiation table anytime soon.

    The Nation reliably gathered from informed sources that the AGF who seemed not comfortable with the turn of events, had issued a directive to the management of NIMASA to have the case withdrawn without further delay in order to settle out of court.

    Sources further told The Nation that Adoke had made frantic moves to have the matter withdrawn in court by the NIMASA management under the former DG, Omatseye, since 2010 but could not have his way because the then management insisted that he had to follow the due process.

    It was learnt that the minister may have arm-twisted the current management into doing his bidding.

    However when our correspondent got across to the Agency through its Head of Media, Hajia Lami Tumaka, she insisted that the matter was still pending in court.

    According to her, “The case is still in court and as such I cannot comment and as to whether NIMASA has settled out of court, it is only the Executive management board that can have a position on that. The case, I understand is coming up for further hearing in February.”

    Speaking with our correspondent yesterday, Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), the counsel representing NIMASA in the case confided in The Nation that both parties had taken the option of an out-of-court-settlement.

    Probed further, the professor of constitutional law reiterated that the case had been withdrawn but emphasised that due to client-confidentiality he would not be persuaded to give further details on the matter.

    Confirming this development, Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke, Acting General Manager, External Relations, Nigeria LNG Limited, in an exclusive interview with The Nation yesterday said, it was true that NIMASA had indeed withdrew the case from the law court.

    While giving insight on what led to the litigation between his organisation and NIMASA, Eresia-Eke said: “Basically not much has transpired between the NLNG and NIMASA. As you know, what happened was that there were some levies and we argued that those levies were not meant for us because of our Act and they (NIMASA) went ahead to court.”

    Pressed further, he said: “I think later on, they decided to suspend the whole thing. I believed they did so because they had good intentions and we have no problem with that.”

    Expatiating, he said: “My understanding is that they have withdrawn the case and we are going to have a discussion. The negotiations we are going to have would be subject to how they approach us and what the issues might be and we can only respond based on the fact and information we have on ground. It is not what you can conjecture.”

    On insinuations that the AGF may have influenced the outcome of the matter, the NLNG spokesman said the decision to withdraw the case in the instance of the minister was well-intended and may have been taken to actualise peaceful settlement.

    The litigation between the NLNG and NIMASA had been ongoing in the past few years. The Nation gathered that the NLNG management under the former Managing Director, Chima Ibeneche, had asked NIMASA to go to court to contest the NLNG Act, which granted the NLNG and its contractors a tax holiday and several other incentives.

    However, following discussions with NIMASA and NLNG, both parties had agreed that the latter should carry out some projects in lieu of payment.

    The communiqué issued at the end of the parley in 2009 tagged: “Proposal on Projects that will Assist the Development of the Safety Administration in Nigeria”, addressed 14 critical areas of need namely: purchase of two number surveillance helicopters at the cost of $18.0million; four number pollution monitoring, control boats at $20.0m; five number defender, bullet proof patrol boats at $30.90m; two number offshore patrol boats with fire fighting capability at $30.0m; funding of PICOMMS projects at $26.0m to mention but a few.

    But The Nation gathered that the meeting called at the instance of NIMASA to ratify the proposal ended in a deadlock

  • Cabotage levies: NIMASA, NLNG settle out of court

    Cabotage levies: NIMASA, NLNG settle out of court

    FRESH fact emerged at the weekend that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) had withdrew its lawsuit against the Nigeria Liquified and Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited.

    The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN) was reported to have prevailed on the NIMASA to withdraw the suit.

    It would be recalled that NIMASA had taken the management of the NLNG to court following arguments over whether or not the latter ought to pay 2 % cabotage and 3 % freight levies for shipping by Bonny Gas Limited, a subsidiary of NLNG, estimated at over $400million to NIMASA from September 2007 till date.

    The case which had began under Dr. Ade Dosunmu, the erstwhile Director-General of the agency and was further pursued by his predecessor, Temisan Omatseye, has been a hotly debated issue and reportedly led to the abrupt exit of Omatseye who has been on suspension in the last two years, sources said.

    The Nation can authoritatively report that the matter hitherto under Justice Nyako of the Federal High Court, is presently before Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court, Lagos, and initially billed for further hearing in February will not be heard as both parties are returning to the negotiation table anytime soon.

    The Nation reliably gathered from informed sources that the AGF who seemed not comfortable with the turn of events, had issued a directive to the management of NIMASA to have the case withdrawn without further delay in order to settle out of court.

    Sources further told The Nation that Adoke had made frantic moves to have the matter withdrawn in court by the NIMASA management under the former DG, Omatseye, since 2010 but could not have his way because the then management insisted that he had to follow the due process.

    It was learnt that the minister may have arm-twisted the current management into doing his bidding.

    However when our correspondent got across to the Agency through its Head of Media, Hajia Lami Tumaka, she insisted that the matter was still pending in court.

    According to her, “The case is still in court and as such I cannot comment and as to whether NIMASA has settled out of court, it is only the Executive management board that can have a position on that. The case, I understand is coming up for further hearing in February.”

    Speaking with our correspondent yesterday, Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), the counsel representing NIMASA in the case confided in The Nation that both parties had taken the option of an out-of-court-settlement.

    Probed further, the professor of constitutional law reiterated that the case had been withdrawn but emphasised that due to client-confidentiality he would not be persuaded to give further details on the matter.

    Confirming this development, Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke, Acting General Manager, External Relations, Nigeria LNG Limited, in an exclusive interview with The Nation yesterday said, it was true that NIMASA had indeed withdrew the case from the law court.

    While giving insight on what led to the litigation between his organisation and NIMASA, Eresia-Eke said: “Basically not much has transpired between the NLNG and NIMASA. As you know, what happened was that there were some levies and we argued that those levies were not meant for us because of our Act and they (NIMASA) went ahead to court.”

    Pressed further, he said: “I think later on, they decided to suspend the whole thing. I believed they did so because they had good intentions and we have no problem with that.”

    Expatiating, he said: “My understanding is that they have withdrawn the case and we are going to have a discussion. The negotiations we are going to have would be subject to how they approach us and what the issues might be and we can only respond based on the fact and information we have on ground. It is not what you can conjecture.”

    On insinuations that the AGF may have influenced the outcome of the matter, the NLNG spokesman said the decision to withdraw the case in the instance of the minister was well-intended and may have been taken to actualise peaceful settlement.

    The litigation between the NLNG and NIMASA had been ongoing in the past few years. The Nation gathered that the NLNG management under the former Managing Director, Chima Ibeneche, had asked NIMASA to go to court to contest the NLNG Act, which granted the NLNG and its contractors a tax holiday and several other incentives.

    However, following discussions with NIMASA and NLNG, both parties had agreed that the latter should carry out some projects in lieu of payment.

    The communiqué issued at the end of the parley in 2009 tagged: “Proposal on Projects that will Assist the Development of the Safety Administration in Nigeria”, addressed 14 critical areas of need namely: purchase of two number surveillance helicopters at the cost of $18.0million; four number pollution monitoring, control boats at $20.0m; five number defender, bullet proof patrol boats at $30.90m; two number offshore patrol boats with fire fighting capability at $30.0m; funding of PICOMMS projects at $26.0m to mention but a few.

    But The Nation gathered that the meeting called at the instance of NIMASA to ratify the proposal ended in a deadlock.