Maritime This Week: A Recap of News and Events

MONDAY AUGUST 26, 2019

FG affirms commitment to reduce shipping cost

The Federal Government on Monday affirmed its commitment toward reducing cost of shipping to boost trade in Africa.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo made this known at the Sub-Regional Summit on Unfair Shipping Surcharges and High Local Shipping Charges at the Ports of West and Central Africa in Abuja.

Osinbajo, represented by the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi said Federal Government was aware of the disturbing cost of transportation of goods through the ports in the sub-region due to freight rates and arbitrary imposed surcharges.

He said that the government was equally mindful that member-states of the Union of African Shippers Council (UASC) were concerned of the lack of consultation, timing and structure of these surcharges.

The Executive Secretary of NSC Mr Hassan Bello, while reiterating the importance of collaboration between UASC member states, said NSC had been engaging Nigeria’s shipping lines on reduction of shipping charges.

According to him, reduction of cost is the responsibility of all stakeholders including the government in ensuring the provision of modern, efficient, integrated and connected transport infrastructure.

“Transport should be appropriately priced with the aim of providing balance and equilibrium,’’ Bello added.

The Need To Rescue Eastern Ports From Throes of Death formed the thrust of nigeriamaritime360.com editorial opinion on Monday.

The medium said the efforts of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to revive the ailing ports in the Eastern flank of the country had been consistent and persistent but with little success.

“Apart from the Lagos ports which remain the flagship of the port industry that account for over 60 percent of shipping activities in the country, there are other ports in the Eastern Zone of the NPA which include Port Harcourt port, Onne port, Warri port, Koko port and Calabar port.”

The medium said however, apart from Onne port which due to its strategic location at oil services area that made it marginally productive, the rest of the ports in that axis are virtually idle.

The situation has gotten to a stage that they have become big drain on the resources of the NPA that has failed to get returns on its huge investments it has consistently sunk into these ports over the years.

The medium expressed the belief that resolving the insecurity in the region will win back the confidence of foreign ship owners to patronise the ports and make them normalise their outrageous freight charges that will make the patronage by importers economical.

“This, we hope will rescue the Eastern ports from the throes of death as importers will start to patronise them, thus relieving the Lagos ports of its cargo and human traffic that have stretched their facilities to a breaking point”.

TUESDAY AUG 27

SIFAX projects five year plan for better positioning

The management of SIFAX Group has projected a five year developmental plan for the conglomerate for better service and to become a pace setter in the maritime and logistics business in Nigeria.

The recent inclusion of new departments and personnel, the organisation said, formed part of the strategy to achieve the feat.

Speaking with journalists in Lagos, Tuesday, the Group Manager Director, Mr. Adekunle Abdulazeez Oyinloye said that the organisation was positioning itself to serve the public better and to be ahead of the challenges of the industry in the next five years.

He said, “We are constantly reinventing ourselves so that we can serve the public much better.

“The last time we met, probably a few people, a few offices were not in place but because we are growing steadily, we felt we have to alter how we do the business and who and who join us in the business.

“That is the reason early in the year, my humble-self left what I knew how to do better in the past to join forces with Dr. Afolabi to further reposition the SIFAX Group. A couple of my colleagues also joined early in the year.

“It is in the path of setting the pace that we began this year looking into the future of maritime and logistics and we are asking ourselves where we are going. Can we get ourselves ready for the task.

“We began the year with a restructuring plan to position ourselves ahead of what is likely to happen in the industry.

,”The future has given birth to what we call five years strategic plan and it is planning and executing the plan that you see many of the people that we have brought on board to drive the new business.

Shippers’ Council, CBN block foreign shipping N2bn demurrage surcharge on importers

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) on Tuesday, claimed its collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has helped Nigerian Importers saved 2 Billion demurrage charges from foreign shipping companies.
This was disclosed by the executive secretary of the council, Barr. Hassan Bello at the Sub-regional Summit on Unfair Shipping Surcharges and High Local Shipping Charges at the Ports of West and Central Africa Sub-region held in Abuja.

According to the Shippers’ Council’s boss, about N2billion has been saved through the confirmation of reasonableness of demurrage and freight rates by the CBN.

He decried multiples surcharges levied on cargoes destined to West and Central Africa countries by international shipping companies due to some ugly situations in the region, but which remain even after the situation has been arrested.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 28

$16bn Power Project Probe: EFCC arrests 4, trails 18 including ex-governors

Two top officials of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), the company which supervised execution of the $16 billion failed power projects have been detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday.

Detectives are on the trail of 18 more suspects including two former governors, a former chairman of a bank and a former chairman of an airline.

The top officials already in EFCC net are Head of Finance Marvel Emefiele and Head of Compensation Eze M. C. Odigbo.

The officials are expected to account for the N850 million earmarked as compensation to communities where components of the power project were sited.

Other guests of EFCC are Managing Director of Pivot Engineering Mr. Richard Ayibiowu and the Managing Director of Chris Ejik Nigeria Limited Mr. Christain Ejik Imoka.

About 15 more companies are also on the EFCC radar, it was learnt last night. There are fears that some of the suspects might have secretly relocated abroad.

Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari has repeatedly wondered how $16 billion was spent on power and there is no electricity generated. He subsequently ordered a probe into the expenditure.

THURSDAY AUGUST 29

FG should prosecute ex-officials in P&ID contract – Anti-Graft Outfit

On Thursday, the Federal Government was urged to arrest and prosecute former government officials connected with the ill-fated Gas Plant project contract the country signed with an Irish firm, Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID).

The Executive Secretary, Anti-Corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative

(ARDI), Dr Denise Aghanya gave the advice in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja.

Aghanya, whose anti-graft outfit investigated Justice Walter Onnoghen, former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) on fraud said the P&ID contract was a scam aided by some unpatriotic citizens to swindle the country.

On Aug.6, a British court granted approval for the firm to seize the country’s assets abroad worth US 9.6 billion dollars.

The company was awarded US 6.6 billion dollars in an arbitration decision over a failed project to build a gas processing plant in Calabar, during late president Umar Yar’Adua tenure in office.

“It is heart-breaking to read Reno Omokri, former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan attributing the failure of Nigerian Government to act promptly and avert this development to failure of leadership by Buhari’s administration.

“At what point should we as concerned citizens separate politics from leadership so that we can build an ideal society for ourselves?

“The administration that initiated the contract should have guided it to a logical conclusion if it was well-intended in the first place,’’ he said.

FRIDAY AUGUST 30, 2019

FBI list: EFCC arrests top mastermind of N60 million fraud

The suspected fraudster on FBI’s list, arrested by the EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested 36-year-old Joseph Oyediran, one of key wanted fraudsters on the list released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The commission took to its twitter handle to announce the arrest of the suspect whom they said was the mastermind of a N60 million fraud.

The commission wrote: “One of the internet fraudsters wanted by the FBI, Joseph Oyediran, arrested by EFCC operatives in Ilorin, Kwara State. Head, EFCC Ilorin Zonal Office, Isyaku Sharu, disclosed this at a press conference to give update on EFCC/FBI collaboration against internet fraud”.

#Alert One of the internet fraudsters wanted by the FBI, Joseph Oyediran, arrested by EFCC operatives in Ilorin, Kwara State. Head, EFCC Ilorin Zonal Office, Isyaku Sharu, disclosed this at a press conference to give update on EFCC/FBI collaboration against internet fraud.

Earlier on Friday, the Zonal Head of the EFCC in Ilorin, Mr Isyaka Sharu while briefing newsmen in Ilorin, said that the commission had been supportive of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other anti-graft agencies tackling financial crimes.

Sharu urged Nigerians to be united in the fight against corruption, saying only this could encourage foreign investment in the economy.