The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has remitted a total sum of N16bn to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, exceeding the budgeted sum by N4bn.
The Director-General, NIMASA, Peterside Dakuku, who made this known in Abuja on Tuesday, said 133 per cent increment was due to a number of measures put in place by the agency such as effective monitoring of vessels, enforcement of laws, increased surveillance and debt recoveries.
Peterside made this known when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration for the appraisal of the 2019 budget of NIMASA.
The NIMASA boss said N110.84bn was the targeted revenue for 2019, out of which N83.49bn, representing 74 per cent, was realised while N20bn had been spent out of the N28bn allocated for the mandatory Maritime Fund.
Giving the breakdown of the expenses for the 2019 budget, Peterside said N20bn was budgeted for personnel cost, out of which N15.2bn had been spent, while overhead cost was allocated N24bn with N12bn spent out of it.
Peterside added that the agency also released N2.5bn to the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State.
He said, “As of October 31, we had contributed N16bn into the Consolidated Revenue Fund. We have since increased our contribution and in that contribution, we have exceeded our budget target.”
Responding to questions from members of the committee, Peterside stated that NIMASA was working to ensure the review of existing maritime laws in the country to meet up contemporary demands of the industry.
