The Nigerian Shippers Council has said that in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), it was able to save a whooping $2.7 billion for the Federal Government in the last five years as revenue which could have been lost as a result of scam in the fuel subsidy regime.
The Council’s Chief Executive Officer, Barrister Hassan Bello disclosed this yesterday during an interactive session with the House of Representative Committee on Ports, Harbours and Waterways in Lagos.
Speaking further on the figure, Director, Commercial Shipping Services of the council, Mrs Dabney Shall Holma said that the council was able to save the figure in collaboration with the CBN, following revenue leakages that were detected and blocked by the council
Shall Holma explained that the monies saved so far occurred in the last five years under the subsidy regime. According to her, the amount saved was strictly from wet cargo importation
“Each time there is a foreign exchange request it comes to us and it was during the course of checking that we discovered that they were incidents of over-charges, incidences of freights, services that were never rendered, that was how we arrived at that figure in five years”
She noted that under the years in view, the council has succeeded in blocking wastages and leakages.
“I am a shipper and I want to import wet cargoes and it was strictly on the oil, I want to import wet cargo and I import the wet cargo but the rate I am cutting in that particular import is too high because if I bring my cargo with a hope import, then my subsidy will be higher, because it is the total sum of the product plus cost of the carriage that was involved”.
Also speaking, Chairman House of Representative Committee on Ports, Harbours and Waterways, Honourable, Patrick Asadu from Enugu State said that the country has a lot of resources that can move the country forward.
Asadu lauded the Nigerian shippers Council in the area of capacity building for stakeholders adding that the meeting with the council has given so much revelations that will assist the National Assembly to do its job in ensuring that Nigerian economy and by extention, the maritime sector is moved forward.
He added that players in the maritime sector must seat up in ensuring that the country make use of its resources outside the oil and gas sector.
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