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Tag: NIMASA

  • Tax holiday: Appeal Court orders retrial of NIMASA, NLNG levies case

    The Court of Appeal in Lagos has set aside a Federal High Court judgment which exempted the Nigeria LNG Ltd from levies imposed by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

    The appellate court returned the 2013 case to the lower court and ordered that it be re-assigned to another judge for retrial.

    In a unanimous decision, a three-man panel of the appellate court led by Justice Garuba Lawal upheld NIMASA’s argument that the lower court erred in its judgment delivered on October 3, 2017.

    Other members of the panel were Justice Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo and Justice Gabriel Kolawole.

    The Justices upheld NIMASA’s contention, made through its lawyer Lateef Fagbemi SAN, that the lower court breached NIMASA’s fundamental right to fair hearing.

    In its judgment read by Justice Joseph Ikyegh, the appellate court held: “The appeal is allowed, and the judgment delivered by the lower court in October 2017 is hereby set aside.

    ‘The case is hereby ordered to be sent back to the administrative judge of the Lagos Division of the lower court to be assigned to a judge for expeditious determination on its merit.

    ‘Parties are to bear the administrative cost of the appeal.”

    In 2017, a judge of the Federal High Court, Lagos, Justice Muhammed Idris, who is now at the Court of Appeal, decided the suit in NLNG’s favour.

    The judge held that NLNG was not liable to make the said payments to NIMASA and that all payments already made by NLNG to NIMASA should be refunded to NLNG.

    The judge further held that NIMASA was wrong in blockading the Bonny Channel for the purpose of enforcing the payments against NLNG.

    Dissatisfied, NIMASA filed an appeal before the Appeal Court challenging the judgment on the ground of fair hearing among others.

    NIMASA averred that the NLNG was liable to pay three per cent gross freight on its international in-bound and out-bound cargo as sea protection levy.

    It also averred that NLNG is to pay two per cent cabotage surcharge on all activities carried out for and on its behalf as well as other sundry claims.

  • Breaking: Appeal Court orders retrial of NIMASA, NLNG levies case

    The Court of Appeal in Lagos has set aside a Federal High Court judgment which exempted the Nigeria LNG Ltd from levies imposed on it by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

    In a unanimous judgment, a three-man panel of the appellate court led by Justice Garuba Lawal held that the lower court erred.

    Read Also: Court dismisses suit challenging Adamawa gov’ship election

    The Justices returned the 2013 case to the lower court and ordered that the case be re-assigned to another judge for retrial.

    Details shortly…

  • New judge to hear Patience Jonathan’s suit against EFCC

    A new judge, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos, has taken over a suit filed by former first lady Dame Patience Jonathan challenging a “no-debit-order” placed on her account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    It followed the elevation of Justice Mohammed Idris to the Court of Appeal.

    Justice Aneke on Wednesday adjourned until May 22.

    The EFCC, Skye Bank Plc (now Polaris Bank) and three companies – Pluto Property and Investment Company Ltd, Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Ltd and Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Ltd are the respondents.

    Mrs Jonathan, in the suit filed in 2016, is demanding N200 million damages.

    She is urging the court to compel the EFCC to immediately remove the “no debit order” placed on her accounts with $9.8 million.

    The plaintiff’s counsel Chief Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN) said there was an amendment to the suit to reflect the change in the bank’s name.

    An aide, Sammie Somiari, deposed to a supporting affidavit on behalf of the former first lady.

    The deponent said a former Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan, Waripamo Dudafa, helped Mrs Jonathan to open the banks accounts.

    Somiari said Mrs Jonathan is the sole signatory to the accounts, adding that after five accounts were opened for, she discovered that Dudafa opened only one in her name while the others were in the companies’.

    The deponent said Mrs Jonathan continued to operate the accounts with debit cards until EFCC placed the “no-deposit order”.

    But, in its defence, EFCC said Mrs Jonathan does not run any business from which she could have earned such huge sums, being the wife of the former president, a civil servant and a retired Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa State.

    “Investigation conducted by the first defendant (EFCC) revealed that the plaintiff is not the owner of the funds in the accounts of the third to fifth defendants (companies), which funds were discovered to be proceeds of fraudulent activities of Waripamo-Owei Emmanuel Dudafa,” EFCC said.

    The commission said between 2013 and 2015, “huge sums of money were stolen from the Federal Government of Nigeria and its agencies.”

    The agencies, it said, included the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA

  • 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: No more waiver for erring vessels, says NIMASA

    Vessels which flout the Cabotage Act will no longer be granted waivers, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) boss Dakuku Peterside has said.

    According to him, the grant of waivers to vessels which do not comply with the Cabotage Compliance Strategy (CCS) introduced to ease the law’s implementation cannot help the economy.

    “Our laws forbid foreign vessels operating in our territorial waters save for compliance with the Cabotage Act. There shall be no sacred cow when we commence clampdown on erring vessels. We want to increase the number of Nigerians who participate in the marine aspect of your business and we are working closely with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to have a joint categorisation of vessels operating under the Cabotage Act in order to ensure the full implementation of the Act,” he said.

    To this end, the detention of a Motor Tanker, MT Navigator Capricorn, a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) carrier, has been approved for contravening the law. The vessel was first boarded in October 2018 and all infractions of Cabotage non-compliance were noted and communicated accordingly to the charterer/Owners representatives with a 90-day grace to comply. The 90 days expired on last January 31.

    According to NIMASA’s head of Corporate Communication, Isichei Osamgbi, owners of the vessel made an undertaking to remedy the infractions when they got detention warning.

    The vessel, he said, had been moved to Lagos Anchorage to allow space for other LPG vessels to discharge at the NOJ Jetty which talks are ongoing with its owners and charterers.

    In a statement, he said his team met with the Oil Producers Trade Sector (OPTS) in Lagos and urged industry players to draw up a five-year strategic plan for waiver cessation and also pursue the utilisation of Nigerian-owned vessels for marine contracts.

    Last August, NIMASA introduced the CCS to ensure full implementation of the Cabotage Act to secure jobs for qualified Nigerians in the sector.

    Through a Marine Notice, suspended waiver applications on manning for prescribed categories of officers in vessels engaged in Cabotage trade. This means that NIMASA no longer considers applications for waiver on manning requirements for vessels engaged in coastal trade with regards to second officer, second engineer, second  mate down to able seamen, ratings and stewards.

    Osamgbi said, however, that special applications for captains, chief engineers, chief officers, first mate in the absence of qualified Nigerians were considered on merit, but on the condition that such organisation make plan to train a Nigerian and put in place a transition plan to ensure that the Nigerians take over the job within one year.

    “The whole essence of this is to ensure that Nigerians are not deprived of the jobs due them on showing requisite qualifications for the job,” he said.

  • US Coast Guard lauds NIMASA

    The United States Coast Guard has commended the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for its efforts to improve security and operational efficiency within Nigeria’s maritime domain.

    The commendation was given  in Lagos by a visiting coast guard team led by Lt Commander Janna Ott.

    The delegation was in Nigeria to inspect facilities and ports.

    Ott, a representative of the US Coast Guard in International Port Security Programme, said NIMASA had taken laudable steps to improve Nigeria’s compliance with the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) code.

    “You do have a really great team here. They were very helpful.

    “I thank them for their frank and open discussion in allowing us to give them our observations. Hopefully, they can take whatever we have given them to heart and start working on them right away.”

  • Buhari declines assent to two transport bills

    President Muhammadu Buhari has declined assent to two bills in the transport sector.

    They are the National Transport Commission Bill 2018 and the Federal Roads Authority (Establishment) Bill 2018.

    The president’s decision came in a letter to the National Assembly leadership read by the President of the Senate, Sen. Bukola Saraki, at plenary on Wednesday.

    Buhari said some sections of the National Transport Commission Bill contained safety regulations that would duplicate the functions of existing transport agencies.

    He said, “Safety regulatory provisions enshrined in some sections of the bill which are technical in nature fall within the purview of central legislation implemented by agencies like NIMASA (Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), NPA (Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and therefore should be expunged from the bill.

    “Two, the percentage of the amount to be retained by the agency from royalties collected under section 19 (2)(d) should be reduced from 10 to five per cent.

    “Section 12 (9)(2)(d) stipulates that a portion of the proceeds from royalties collected by the authority empowered to collect royalties from transport service providers should not exceed 10 per cent which is collected by service providers and concessionaires.

    “Three, section 19 (2)(f) which stipulates charge of three per cent freight tariff stabilisation fee on all imports and exports out of Nigeria including wet and dry cargoes should be amended and reduced from three per cent to one per cent.

    “This is what is currently contained in the Nigerian Shippers Council legislation,” he said.

    On the Federal Roads Authority (Establishment) Bill 2018, the president said the proposed road sector regulator would usurp the supervisory power of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.

    The president pointed out that the proposed agency would also render the “entire technical workforce of the supervisory ministry redundant”.

    Read Also: 2019: INEC chair Yakubu raises concern over security

    “The establishment of the road sector regulator as a separate and distinctive body in Part 6 of the bill is capable of rendering the entire technical workforce of the supervisory ministry redundant.

    “The supervisory power of the ministry over the road sector would be taken over by the road sector regulator and will leave the ministry without the power to exercise its supervisory role.

    “I feel the ministry would have little or no desirable role to play in the road sector.

    “This is because ownership and management of roads would be vested in the road sector regulator such that the supervisory powers would be exercised by it, leaving the ministry without any clear statutory function,” Buhari argued.

  • NIMASA to make Nigeria African maritime hub

    The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, has identified some factors that will lead to the emergence of Nigerian seaports as the highest-performing logistics hub in West and Central Africa.

    When this is achieved, the ports will become home to Africa’s largest trans-shipment container port, linked to other ports across the globe.

    Speaking with The Nation at the weekend, a senior official of the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF), who craved anonymity, said the senior management of the maritime industry, led by Peterside, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (‘NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman and the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, Mr Hassan Bello, are working tirelessly to improve the logistics network.

    The success so far recorded by the Port of Singapore, the FMoF official said, shows that, with a forward-thinking vision and much determination by those directing the affairs of the maritime trade, “a developing country like Nigeria with few resources can become a leading logistics hub.

    “Singapore’s achievements did not happen by chance, some people developed the initiatives. The result derived from a combination of forward-looking public policy and extensive private sector engagement. The experience has provided the necessary lessons for the Nigerian maritme industry,” the official said.

    The senior official noted that three  key factors that will lead to success based on the planned initiatives includethe size of the Nigerian local market which is expansive.

    “As Peterside is working closely with other maritime administrations in Africa and beyond, the port must also work closely with other ports and shipping lines to build one of the best maritime transport networks. The NPA and Shippers Council must quickly develop an extensive network of Free Trade Zone Agreements already signed by the Federal Government and initiate new ones with many trading partners to promote our access to major markets.

    “The government must encourage companies across the logistics chain to operate within the country so that they can get frequent and reliable connections to reach global markets within the shortest time possible.”

    Investigation revealed that, high-frequency connections will allow goods to reach other African countries faster through the Nigerian port than they would through direct shipments and that is one area said by the FMoF official that the country must tap into.

    “If you look at the current efforts of NIMASA, you will realise that it is in line with the initial efforts of the builders of the ports of Dubai and Singapore.

    “Over time, Singapore and Dubai’s logistics sector have succeeded in building enviable world-class infrastructure and processes that need to be emulated by Nigeria and other developing countries.

    “That is why the current management of NIMASA  like those who led the ports of Singapore and  Dubai to a world-class level, is now thinking ahead, and coming up with several initiatives to build our ports for the future and ensure that they can compete favourably in every part of the logistics chain.

    “We need a policy that will make it possible for our ports to be able to process several millions of standard shipping containers, making it the biggest integrated facility in the West and Central Africa,” the official said.

    NIMASA, the former President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu said, needs to explore driverless automated guided vehicles, leveraging smart sensors to detect shipping anomalies such as piracy, and data analytics to predict danger and traffic congestion spots.

    Nigeria, Shittu said, has grown to have Logistics Park at the sea ports and the Inland Dry Ports for time-sensitive cargo, the cold-chain centers for perishables, and regional express facilities to accommodate burgeoning e-commerce activity.

    “We are happy that NIMASA is currently providing its staff necessary and regular training to ensure they can keep up with the new technologies and have the right skills to examine and detect different cargo types that are coming to our ports.

    “To facilitate trade, the Federal Government is planning to launch the first National Single Window in the next few months, which will digitise and streamline trade permit approval processes. With many government agencies planning to key into the platform, this will require the Federal Government to change its mindset from controlling trade to trade facilitation.

    “By the time the National Single Window comes into operation, cargo clearance would be done and approved electronically within minutes, using one e-document. According to the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, an enhanced National Single Window is currently in the pipeline, and it will assist integrating as many business-to-business transactions as possible into one single digital platform.

    “Nigeria needs the national single window to promote private sector competition and encouraged industry players to be com-mercially nimble, and helped make the nation’s logistics sector more attractive and efficient,” Shittu said.

  • NIMASA to equip Maritime Academy to global standards

    The Rector of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Commodore Duja Effedua, has said the academy will partner the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

    He said they would ensure training facilities in Oron met global specifications in compliance with the  International Convention on Standards of Training and Watch-keeping for Seafarers (STCW 1978).

    Commodore Effedua, who spoke at the academy’s  2018 passing-out and graduation, noted that multimedia classrooms, including fire training grounds and  realistic simulation environments are some innovations his team and NIMASA were working on.

    “We have structured, we have implemented, we have set out milestones and have gotten 60 per cent right. Presently, we are sourcing qualified lecturers at home and abroad.

    ‘’We are also remodelling the classrooms, hostels as well as the libraries, and I am glad to announce that the management of NIMASA has promised to be with us all the way” he said.

    Effedua added that a simulation centre, which NIMASA is equipping to international standards, would soon be ready.

    According to the rector, “…NIMASA is acquiring a simulator to train cadets to ensure that our Certificates of Competencies (CoCs) attain global recognition. I believe soon, we shall be one of the best maritime academies in Africa.’’

  • NIMASA goes tough on dangerous imports

    The  Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has vowed to deal with those involved in the shipment of dangerous goods to the country.

    The agency, sources said, is to implement safety codes on dangerous goods to enhance safety in the marine environment.

    Its Director of Operations, Mr Rotimi Fashakin, said the indiscriminate dumping of dangerous goods in the marine environment has been a growing concern and a threat to human health and the environment.

    He said the IMDG Code was a convention under the auspices of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to which Nigeria is a signatory.

    He recalled the negative effect that the dumping into Koko Port in Delta in 1988 of 18,000 barrels of hazardous waste from Italy and recent similar cases on the area.

    He said there was the need to pay special attention to the negative effects that dumping of dangerous goods in the environment could cause the residents.

    “The special requirements in the transportation of IMDG are to eliminate or minimise the risk of injury to people.

    “Over the years, the maritime sector in many countries had taken measures to regulate the transportation of dangerous drugs through identification, labelling and stowage of such goods,” Fashakin said.

    He said that the measure for international regulation on transporting dangerous goods was ratified by the 1929 International Conference on Safety of Life at Sea and adopted in the 1948 Conference.

    He added that the usefulness of most IMDG, especially, to industries had made them inalienable from man hence the desire for them.

    “This session is, therefore, part of Nigeria’s readiness to effectively perform its statutory responsibilities of implementing the IMDG Code on transporting dangerous goods in order to guarantee the health of its citizens,” he said.

    Also, Dr Felicia Mogo, NIMASA’s Head of Marine Environment Management Department, who facilitated the session, said that the code was meant to enhance the safe carriage of dangerous goods.

    She advised port users to be patriotic in their dealings in order to save the country from danger.