There have been snippets about the fate of the Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill. These snippets have heightened to fears. The anxiety has become more imperative following the recent withdrawal of the mandatory assent of the President to some Bills, which had been passed by the National Assembly.
While it is the prerogative of the President to withhold assent to Bills forwarded to him by the National Assembly, it is however instructive that not all the bills that have been so dealt with were actually deficient. Some were killed on the altar of politics and personal interests, fueled by ego and territorial protectionism.
Our fears about the Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill were also justified by the history of what happened to its precursor- the National Transport Commission (NTC) Bill, which was killed under a very suspicious circumstance some years back.
Our attention this week is turned towards the Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill 2023. The Bill is aimed at repealing the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) Act Cap N133 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) and introducing the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Act to fully empower the Council for its regulatory role.
There is no doubt that, the Chairman the House of Representatives Committee on Shipping Services, Hon. Abdussamad Dasuki and the Speaker; Hon. Tajudden Abbas did a yeoman’s job ensuring that the Bill scaled all legislative hurdles. While presenting the bill at the lower House, Dasuki had highlighted the historical context and emphasized that the government designated the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the Port Economic Regulator in 2015.
Dasuki had shared insights from the government’s gazette of 2015, emphasizing the objectives of creating an effective regulatory regime for Nigerian ports following their concession. The scope of the regulation covered all port stakeholders, controlling tariffs, rates, charges, and other related economic services.
Before the Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill, there had been the National Transport Commission Bill, which died after so much efforts had been put into the various stages leading to its passage.
From all indications, the promoters of the new Shipping Bill, had seen the hurdles which the NTC failed to cross and which led to its premature death, and we thought they had avoided the hurdles. What killed the NTC was simply because a particular CEO of a sister agency felt threatened and vowed that the proposed agency will not be birthed.
All that is history now, as the new Nigeria Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill is set to test its luck, and it is our prayer that it scales the final hurdle, which is the President’s assent.
We are in full support of any law that will usher-in a new life for the Nigerian Shippers’ Council. This is not about relevance, it’s more importantly, about the prospect of such a law enhancing ease of doing business in the ports and boosting revenue generation for the Federal Government.
Details of the bill indicate that the envisioned NPERA will have regulatory authority over all public and private entities operating or providing services in the shipping and port sectors. This includes stevedoring, cargo handling, freight forwarding, haulage, terminal operations, and other related services.
This implies that certain functions of other government agencies operating within the port, such as the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, and the Nigerian Customs Service, may also be subjected to some regulatory roles under the proposed agency.
We are aware that that these areas of potential conflicts have been sorted out at the National Assembly, such that those grey areas and fears have been clearly explained and thrashed out.
Unlike those who had contrary views about the creation of a National Transport Commission at that time, we do not think the fears they nursed are necessary under the new NPERA Bill.
As a maritime media organization, we recall that for so many years, the Nigeria Shippers’ Council has been taunted as a toothless bulldog, an ineffective agency that is at the mercy of those it is supposed to regulate.
Created originally to protect the interests of Nigerian shippers, the Council struggled to tame the service providers who exploit shippers. It is true that the Council had tried severally to get the shipping line agencies and the terminal operators to obey the rules of the game in Nigeria. It is true that it has been difficult to enforce its own enabling laws.
Not even the gazette that made the Council to assume the role of the Economic Regulator of the port, could change the perception that stakeholders have about the Nigerian Shippers’ Council. It was still not respected as much as it should. This is not because it does not have the manpower to function. It is simply because it does not have the legal backing to wield the big stick, even in the face of violations. So the Council has over the years resorted to persuasions, negotiations and engagements to assert influence.
Desirous of a new beginning, it had pursued the dream of pushing the National Transport Commission (NTC) through. The plan was to get the National Assembly to pass the Bill, and get the President to assent to it.
Since the fate that befell the NTC Bill, the drafters went back to work, and the efforts gave rise to the Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency
If the new Bill sails through and the Council transmutes, it then means that the Shippers’ Council will have a new name and a new face. We think the Nigerian maritime industry will be the better for it.
Even though there is anxiety over the fate of the Bill, especially since two Bills were last returned to the National Assembly, having been rejected by the Presidents, it our hope that the all-important Bill will not suffer the same fate as the NTC Bill,
Transmuting to Shipping and Port Economic Regulator is in furtherance of its current assignment as the Economic Regulator of the port, so we are totally in support.
If the Bill sails through and the Council transmutes to the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency, it then means that the Shippers’ Council will have a new name and a new face. We think the Nigerian maritime industry will be the better for it and an advantage for all of us.
It is in that regard that we urge the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, the Ministry and relevant stakeholders not to relent, but to continue the push for the actualization of the dream of enthroning a new regime for fair pricing, ease of doing business, and efficient service delivery in the nation’s port system – which is what the Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill stands for.
