From all indications, the Nigeria Shippers’ Council has jettisoned the controversial National Transport Commission (NTC) Bill. Its Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer; Barrister Pius Akutah stated this at a recent management retreat of the Council, which held in Ogun state.
He told journalists that the Council has shifted its attention from the NTC Bill to the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill, which is currently at the National Assembly, and which is fast gaining traction.
He also clarified that the new Bill aims to completely repeal the Nigerian Shippers’ Council Act Cap N133 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004,
Most importantly, he confirmed that political intricacies killed the NTC bill, and expressed doubts about its survival at the National Assembly.
“We at the Shippers Council were more concerned about the bill repealing the Shippers Council Act, Cap. N. 133 LFN 2004, and then enacting a new Nigerian Shippers Council Act, which will give us the mandate as Port Economic Regulator. There is politics in the other bill, which I believe you are aware of. I don’t think the bill is still pending anywhere in the National Assembly. It went with the last assembly. In my mind, it is only the Nigerian Shippers Council Bill that is pending at the National Assembly.
“The repealing and enactment of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council Act, which is pending at the National Assembly is one critical area that we must focus attention on and ensure that that bill is passed expeditiously. This is because without that bill being passed, we do not have a legal framework that is adequate enough to enable us to carry out our mandate as part of the economy we regulate. We have been challenged before, all the way to the Supreme Court for exercising our powers under the regulations and the order of Mr. President appointing us. We have no choice but to get this Law” Akutah stressed.
The above lamentations from the Shippers’ Council boss underscores decades of what the Council had gone through in the hands of service providers, especially shipping lines, terminal operators, haulage operators and even freight forwarders. It was these affronts that the NTC Bill sought to tackle. Sadly the Bill suffered several attacks, and never materialized as an Act.
The NTC Bill seeks to establish the National Transport Commission as an economic regulator of all activities undertaken in Nigeria’s transport sector. The NTC, which was meant to replace the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, was planned to operate as an independent regulator to promote multimodal transport and boost private sector participation in the provision of transport services. Among other things, the NTC was to be responsible for creating equitable access to transport services; and regulating the tariffs, rates and charges paid by transport service users.
Shipping Position Daily however recalls that, in late 2018, the President had declined to assent to the National Transport Commission (NTC) Bill (which the Senate had passed in March 2018). The president cited the need to review certain fiscal provisions set out in the bill, as well as concerns over the duplication of functions which already fell within the statutory mandates of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and the Nigerian Ports Authority.
In the last few years, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has moved from being just the protector of shippers’ interests, it has grown to become the economic regulator of the Nigerian port system, adding more responsibilities and superintending activities of more players in the Nigerian maritime sector.
But, it had only performed these roles without the backing of an Act of the National Assembly, relying only on Presidential ‘instruments’ that can not stand any legality.
We are in agreement, that without the passage of the new Bill, the NSC will continue to lack a sufficient legal framework to fulfill its mandate as the Port Economic Regulator, among other duties.
The NTC Bill faced a lot of persecutions, because it was too daring and ambitious and strange to a nation that believes in empire-building, as represented by existing government agencies of government which it was meant to superintend.
Jettisoning the NTC Bill for the new ‘Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill’ is in the best interest of the Council. In fact, we see it as a low hanging fruit for the new Executive Secretary.
Unlike the NTC Bill, the scope of the new Bill is within the mandate of the Council, be it as a ‘protector of the interests of shippers’ or as the Economic Regulator of the ports.
No matter how many times the Council is ‘panel-beaten’, by way of gazettes and Executive Orders; it will still require an enabling Act, to moderate the various interests in the Nigerian port system. That is why we throw our full weight behind the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill.
