The House of Representatives has said that it is already working on a Bill, ultimately to ensure the creation of the much-expected Maritime Bank with proceeds of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), which is currently in the custody of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Shipping Position Daily findings revealed that the fund which has grown into a whooping N100billion is now warehoused with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) due to the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum on implementation of the Executive Order on Ease of Doing Business, organised by the Ministry of transportation in Warri Delta State last week, Chairman, House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Hon. Umaru Bago said that the lawmakers are organising a stakeholders’ round table sometimes in March 2018 in Lagos, in order to gather more input on the creation of the bank.
Bago said about N55billion would be taken from the N100billion which has accrued from the CVFF over the years to establish the maritime bank.
Under the Cabotage Act of 2007, the CVFF is realised from a surcharge of 2% of contract sum performed by any vessel engaged in Cabotage trade in Nigeria.
Over the years, indigenous ship owners have called for disbursement of the money, saying that it is wrong for government to keep holding on to it. They have advocated that the fund be used as seed money to set up a maritime bank.
In what appears like a direct response to the cry of ship owners, Bago stated last week that disbursement of the CVFF has become a very serious issue to the House of Representatives.
"At the House of Representatives, we are currently looking at a Bill to establish a maritime bank; it is the maritime bank that will solve this problem’’.
He added that ‘’the fund needed to set up the bank is about N55billion and we have close to a N100billion in seeding"
He assured that the bureaucracy between the Federal Ministry of Transportation, NIMASA, the CBN and all other bottlenecks which have slowed down the bank ‘’ would become a thing of the past”.
"However, we are in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Transportation organising another round table for the same issue in Lagos sometimes in March 2018. I want to use this medium to invite every stakeholder here, we would also make advertisements on National Dailies for you to come and make necessary inputs, so that we can get the maritime bank started”, he said.
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