It first started in Lagos, now its rearing its head in far-away Calabar. The controversial Wharf Landing Fees from which the Lagos state government has reaped bountifully has berthed in the ancient port city of Calabar.
We recall that the Wharf Landing Fees was first was created by an Act of the Lagos State House of Assembly after it quietly passed the bill into law on March 2, 2009.It was later to be signed into law by the then- Governor; Mr Babatunde Fashola a few weeks after the lawmakers completed their work.
Although, on paper, the law empowers local governments under whose jurisdiction the cargo passes through to collect varied amount on such goods, but in reality, it is not the local government(s) that collect. The state government actually collects the fees, through a private firm.
The Apapa local government had in 2001 attempted to introduce the fees, but it failed, And during the tenure of Chief Ojo Maduekwe (now deceased) as transport minister and Alhaji Munir Muse as the chairman of Apapa local government, the duo battled each other for and against wharf landing fees.
Alhaji Muse; later a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria representing Lagos state had used his experience as former port manager in charge of Container Terminal Port in Apapa, Lagos to attempt to take advantage of the relative newness of the democratic dispensation at that time to force wharf landing fees down the throat of importers. We will come back to the Lagos story later.
The incumbent Governor of Cross Rivers state; Ben Ayade; who is a former Senator may have taken his bearing from his understanding of what the Lagos state government did and how it was able to push the deed through, without seemingly breeching any Federal law.
Feelers from the coastal state indicate that the scope of its wharf landing fees is broader than that of Lagos state. It covers small crafts and tug boats and their cargoes.
Sadly, just like in Lagos, its collection has commenced, and just like in Lagos, stakeholders are kicking against it.
One of such is the Managing Director of the Calabar Free Trade Zone, Engr Godwin Okinba Ekpe who argued that collection or payment of wharf landing fees was not captured in the Act setting up the Free Trade Zone.
He warned that introduction of such a strange levy would further add to the cost of doing business and discourage investors who are already leaving the zone.
Already, he said that activities in the zone have been crippled due to the shallow draft of the Calabar Channel and activities of Niger Delta militants.
It is pitiable that the state is closing its eyes on the state of Calabar port in its quest to seek additional revenue. From available statistics from the NPA, Calabar port is one of its liability ports. The port has the unenviable record of being the least patronised, owing largely to its limited draughts and shallow channel.
If the state is copying Lagos, then introducing the Wharf Landing Fee in Cross River state ostensibly to take advantage of hosting the Calabar port is wring buy. Lagos houses the busiest ports in the nation, accounting for about 60% of cargo throughput; it also has a booming economy and a booming population to take-in the shock of the fees. Neither Cross Rivers nor Calabar has these.
Taking the case before the Managing Director of NPA; Ms Hadiza Bala Usman may be a wrong approach by the embattled Free Trade Zone Managing Director.
We also laugh at the feeble, perhaps escapist response of the NPA boss who assured the free trade zone boss that the agency would look into the request with a view to persuading the Cross Rivers State Government to reverse it.
Before we go too far, let’s ask some questions: What did the NPA do when Lagos state had its way? Do littoral states have the powers to collect revenue from users of federal facilities who inadvertently must pass through their territories? Can Nigeria handle the likelihood of other states doing same?
When the Lagos state government passed the wharf landing fees Act, the NPA didn’t do anything. It never even objected to it. This probably means that states have not gone beyond their constitutional powers by collecting the wharf landing fees.
We also think that even if these states have the powers to do what they are doing, can the nation’s importing public and the final consumer bear the brunt of these multiple taxation in the name of wharf landing fees.
The Federal Government may have to step into stop the practice. Let no state think that because Lagos state did it and got away with, others can also do same.
Sadly, the economy of Cross Rivers State can not withstand the ripple effect of this fee.
It is also pertinent at this time to ask questions about how well the Lagos state government has put the Wharf Landing Fees into use, since 2009 when it has been forcing importers to pay.
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