Members of the House of Representatives and Transport industry stakeholders have agreed to set up a National Transport Commission (NTC) to oversee the activities of multi-modal transport in Nigeria.
The decision was reached at a recent public hearing on the transport sector in Abuja where various stakeholders in the Transport sector met with the members of the House of Representatives.
Speaking to MMS Plus shortly after the meeting, a Maritime expert, Mr. Galtima Liman revealed that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council is likely to oversee the commission.
“At the meeting, we agreed that there was no need to have a new agency as a result of the perceived negative effects on the utilization of tax payer’s money. Since NSC was already playing a role similar to this as the port economic regulator, NSC is likely to oversee the commission.
The development of the railway was also discussed at the summit as several stakeholders noted that the rail tracks have remained the same since the 1950’s.
“At the moment, the railway is a monopolistic public sector enterprise and it has been proven worldwide that the government is not the best in handling such business.” Galtima added.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives pledged top fast track the NTC initiative so that it would kick-off as soon as possible.
NTC is tipped to create a level playing field, provide competitive rules, ensure regulation of tariffs, standard and give opportunity for funding through PPP (Public- Private Partnership).
By Kenneth Jukpor
