Apparently swayed by the rising apprehension among stakeholders, the House of Representatives Committee on marine transport will tomorrow (Tuesday) hold a public hearing on the controversial Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF).
The CVFF was embedded in the Cabotage Act as an intervention fund to aid indigenous ship owners to acquire vessels and grow national fleet.
Apparently swayed by the rising apprehension among stakeholders, the House of Representatives Committee on marine transport will tomorrow (Tuesday) hold a public hearing on the controversial Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF).
The CVFF was embedded in the Cabotage Act as an intervention fund to aid indigenous ship owners to acquire vessels and grow national fleet.
Sources close to the marine transport committee told Shipping Position Daily last Friday that the public hearing is at the instance of the House of Representatives at a recent plenary and that the decision to subject it to public debate was the outcome of an investigation carried out by an ad hoc committee of the House.
Our correspondent confirmed that already, stakeholders, including banks, indigenous ship owners, as well as the minister of transport and the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) have all been invited.
A member of the House committee on marine transport told our correspondent that “the essence is to dig into the crevices and unmask the truth about CVFF”.
“You know that the CVFF has been as controversial as the Cabotage Act itself, we have had many allegations about it, we were told at a time that some banks are keeping the money. We want to know for a fact how much is involved, so many things are involved”, he added.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that last Monday, at the 2013 World Maritime Day in Calabar, the Minister of Transport; Senator Idris Umar confirmed that six companies had been shortlisted as beneficiaries of the CVFF. He failed to give their identities. He was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Engr. Nebolisa Emordi,
According to him, "out of the several applications received for the CVFF facility, six applications have been processed and endorsed by these primary lending institutions and accordingly recommended by the management of NIMASA to the ministry and are being evaluated for approval".
There are speculations that the3 CVFF has so far grossed about N40Billion
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