The congestion of ports in Nigeria and its associated problems are due to corruption by officials, Dr Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the economy has said.
She said this at an investigative hearing organised by the House of Representatives Joint committee on Finance, Customs and Marine Transport, on the need to decongest the ports.
Okonjo- Iweala, who was represented by Mr Danladi Kifasi, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, stressed the need to improve the general port operations in the country.
The congestion of ports in Nigeria and its associated problems are due to corruption by officials, Dr Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the economy has said.
She said this at an investigative hearing organised by the House of Representatives Joint committee on Finance, Customs and Marine Transport, on the need to decongest the ports.
Okonjo- Iweala, who was represented by Mr Danladi Kifasi, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, stressed the need to improve the general port operations in the country.
She said: “Nigerian ports need to enhance their efficiency to come close to international best practices".
The minister observed that the decongested roads in the ports’ vicinity were being reversed to their former state.
Okonjo-Iweala said the situation was made worse with the lawlessness of tanker drivers lifting petroleum products from tank farms.
The minister said the Ports Reform Committee was currently collaborating with the Lagos State Government to solve the perennial traffic congestion.
She said the Federal Ministry of Works had also commenced rehabilitation of the access roads to the ports.
Okonjo-Iweala noted that the existence of a functional and efficient port system would boost international trade and improve revenue profile of the nation.
The Minister of Transport, Alhaji Idris Umar, in his contribution, said that a bill to further sustain port reforms would soon be submitted to the National Assembly.
He was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr Nebolisa Emordi.
Umar explained that the bill would seek to repeal the Nigerian Ports Authority Act of 1999 and enact the Nigerian Ports and Habours Act, 2013.
He said that to ensure efficiency in the operations in the ports, the number of agencies operating at the ports had been reduced from 14 to 7.
The Chairman of the joint committee, Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin said that ports operations must conform to global best practices.
This he said became necessary for Nigeria to be a cargo hub for West and Central African maritime region.
He noted that when there was congestion at the ports, ships with goods were diverted to neighbouring countries, a development he said, that often led to loss of revenue.
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