The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and the Shippers Association of Lagos State (SALS) have moved to resolve their earlier differences over the proposed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the management of the N28 billion Cargo Defence Fund (CDF), with both parties now working towards a mutually acceptable framework.
This development follows concerns earlier raised by SALS over its exclusion from the proposed board that will oversee the management of the fund.
Speaking in a follow-up chat with Shipping Position Daily, the President of SALS, Rev. Nicodemus Odolo, confirmed that discussions with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council have progressed positively and that both sides are now collaborating to address the issues surrounding the SOP and the constitution of the Cargo Defence Fund board.
According to him, SALS convened a general meeting on Thursday, March 5, where members reviewed the Standard Operating Procedure released by the Council and agreed on a unified position.
Odolo explained that the meeting resolved that the association would formally forward its observations and inputs on the SOP to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as requested by the regulator.
He noted that the move is aimed at ensuring that the governance structure of the Cargo Defence Fund reflects the interests of Nigerian shippers while maintaining transparency and accountability in the management of the recovered funds.
“We held a general meeting on Thursday, March 5, where it was resolved that we should send our observations and inputs on the Standard Operating Procedure to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as demanded,” Odolo said.
The SALS president added that the engagement between both parties has helped to ease earlier concerns raised by the association regarding the governance structure of the fund. All the parties concerned, including the National Shippers Association of Nigeria, are collaborating/cooperating with NSC to ensure good management of the fund.
