Issues concerning the mandate section of the Nigerian Shippers Council and the one per cent freight Stabilisation fee have delayed the assenting of the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill 2023, media reports.
The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Dr Pius Akutah, stated this over the weekend in Lagos while speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the visit of the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organisation, Arsenio Dominguez.
Akutah emphasised that issues surrounding the NPERA Bill have been clarified.
The NSC was established in 1978 (by Decree 13, now Act Cap. N133 LFN 2004) to protect the interests of importers/exporters in shipping matters. Over time, with port reforms and private-sector involvement (e.g. terminal concessions), there’s been a greater demand for economic regulation to oversee tariffs, charges, and service standards, among others.
The idea is to ensure fairness, reduce costs, avoid arbitrary charges, and provide some predictability in port services.
In February 2014, the NSC was appointed (by Presidential Order and Ministerial Regulation) as interim Port Economic Regulator. Then, in 2015, regulations were made (Port Economic Regulations) to formalise some of its regulatory functions. But this was still under regulatory instruments rather than full statutory law. So, the Bill is meant to convert or elevate that interim status into a strong, legally backed, autonomous regime with statutory force. In particular, to repeal/replace the old NSC Act and empower a new agency with broader, clearer powers.
Legally, the one per cent Freight Stabilisation Fee is a statutory service charge provided for under the Nigerian Shippers’ Council Act and associated regulations. It is charged on imports and exports, calculated as one per cent of the freight value. The regulation that explicitly sets this out is the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (Freight Stabilisation Fees on Imports and Exports) Regulations, 1995 (S.L. 3 of 1995) under Section 9 of the NSC Act. The fee is not something new; it is already enshrined in law, though not actively implemented.
Akutah highlighted that under the establishment law, the mandate is totally different from what it is today.
“We have looked at those issues regarding the mandate because under the establishment law, the mandate is totally different from what it is today. That created a little bit of confusion, but it has been resolved,” Akutah stated.
He explained that the council met with the Attorney General of the Federation, stressing that the issues have been looked at one after the other.
“Those issues created a little bit of confusion, but that has been resolved because the Gazette of the Presidential Order of 2015 and the regulations of 2015 have all been handed over to the Minister of Justice. So, they have now looked at it again to see that the mandate has changed by the order of the president appointing the council as the Port Economic Regulator. So, those aspects that needed to be corrected have been corrected, and the bill has gone back to the National Assembly on its way back to Mr President for assent,” Akutah stated.
He, however, expressed hope that the bill would be attended to as soon as the National Assembly returns.
“The Bill is still with the National Assembly. You know that they have been on recess. They were supposed to resume last week, but I think they moved it forward. As soon as the National Assembly resumes sitting, they will look at this quickly and then do all the corrections and send it back,” Akutah explained.
Shedding more light on the corrections done on the bill, the NSC boss explained, “On the mandate, the issue was whether the council has the mandate to become the Port Economic Regulator. That mandate was given to the Council under the Presidential Order of 2015.”
“There are not so many corrections, just a few of them regarding the mandate and the one per cent freight stabilisation fee. The language was redrafted and not to mean the funding of the agency, but the revenue to be generated by the agency, which will go into the federation account. So, those little corrections have been made. So, it’s for the National Assembly to make those corrections,” he explained.
Here’s a detailed background and context to the one per cent Freight (Stabilisation) Fee introduced (or proposed) by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC). You can use this to situate the policy, how it came about, what it aims to do, its legal basis, and the reactions and controversies around it.
