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Recent developments trailing the National Transport Commission (NTC) bill and the Ports and Habours bill, have begun to fuel speculations that the raft of maritime bills before the National Assembly have been doctored to lose the initial purpose.
While the Ports and Habours bill was created in 2005 to provide the legal framework for the port concession prior to the actual concession which took place in 2006, a doctored version of the bill was recently put forward by Senator Andy Uba is seeking to repeal the Nigerian Ports Authority Act, 2004 and enact a Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority to provide for the ownership, management and development of ports and harbours.
The Ports and Harbours bill which was initially penned by Barr. Mfon Usoro, was to give legislative backing to the ports concession and not necessarily create an authority or replace NPA. However, following the bill put forward by Sen. Andy Uba and its plan to transform the NPA into NPHA, there have been a plethora of speculations as well as genuine concerns about the content of the Ports and Habours bill and other pending transport sector bills at the National Assembly.
The Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority proposed to replace the NPA is expected to have a governing board, to be headed by the Minister of Transportation.
A top executive of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) recently told our correspondent that he was also perturbed over the current state of the National Transport Commission (NTC) bill as he believed that the NTC had also been doctored.
During a chat with Mrs. Mfon Ekong Usoro, Secretary General, Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control for West and Central African region (Abuja MoU), she told MMS Plusthat she was aware of some changes in the Ports and Habours bill as well as the NTC bill.
Usoro who had drafted both bills several years ago, stated that she was yet to see the current Ports and Harbours bill. While she noted that some changes may have been necessary to meet the current state of affairs, she however emphasized that the Ports and Habours bill was specifically created to give the legislative backing to the port concession.
Speaking on the issue, a maritime expert, Mr. Galtima Liman told our correspondent that the emergence of the Nigerian Ports and Harbour Authority (NHPA) would allow the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) relinquish the responsibilities of the port economic regulator as the Council braces up to assume more prominent responsibilities such as spearheading the National Transport Commission.
According to Galtima, NSC’s status as port economic regulator was just an ad hoc arrangement as a result of the absence of a regulator after the ports were concessioned.
However, he asserted that the arrival of NPHA wouldn’t make NPA irrelevant because NPA addresses the need to have a supervisory body for the other functions at the ports such as; port dredging, port infrastructure development and management, etc.
“Each component in the Transport sector needs to have a regulatory body and the National Transport Commission would be the ombudsman. The establishment of Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority (NPHA) is long overdue. It is an Act that should have preceded the port concession so that we don’t have oligopoly replacing the public sector monopoly”
Highlighting the benefits of the proposed Authority, Galtima maintained that it would encourage foreign investors as they would be guaranteed a level playing field. He also added that the Authority would ensure that terminal operators put an end to their numerous arbitrary charges.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Ports Consultative Council, Otunba Kunle Folarin told MMS Plus that the emergence of the NPHA is long overdue. He stressed that the Authority would be saddled with the responsibility of regulating the port system.
Otunba further noted that wherever ports are concessioned around the world, such regulatory bodies like NPHA are established to supervise the activities of the concessionaries by regulating tariff and ensuring the operators meet other basic requirements.
He maintained that NPA had a role to play in ensuring maritime safety via the ports and also maintaining the port infrastructure. He argued that since the security of the nation couldn’t be privatized, it would not be advisable to scrap the NPA following the emergence of NPHA.
“Why should NPA be scrapped when it plays the role of providing infrastructure for the ports? Who will provide the transport services? Who would be responsible for dredging the ports? Who will ensure maritime safety and the security of the nation? We shouldn’t forget that maritime safety is a security issue for the nation and the security of the nation cannot be privatized” Otunba explained.
On the National Transport Commission (NTC), the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has been tipped to transform into the NTC and take up the responsibility of regulating the transport sector.
This development came as part of the recommendations at the 14th Biennial Maritime Seminar for Judges which held in Abuja recently. It was suggested that considering the multifaceted roles of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, it should transform to National Transport Commission (NTC).
Shippers’ Council (NSC) was also urged to initiate legislations to cover liability of terminal operators for such delay or damages using the frame work under the United Nations Convention on Liability of Terminal Operators 1991.
The reasons for the sharp changes in Ports and Harbours bill remain unknown, it is pertinent to emphasize that the NPA was established by the Ports Act of 1954 to address the institutional weakness that bordered on lack of coherent policy framework as port development were done on ad hoc basis driven by changes on the level and demand of sea-borne trade.
The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is also another bill which has been restructured significantly or rather insignificantly, but the rhetorical question is- can anyone truly say that the maritime sector bills before the National Assembly are being positively advanced or politically altered?
By Kenneth Jukpor
