Shippers’ Council petitions Ministry of Transport over exclusion from concession review committee

Abiola Seun |

Exclusion of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) from the review of port concessioning agreement with terminal operators by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has been described as arbitrary, inexplicable and unjustified.

Speaking to journalists, the executive secretary of the council, Barr. Hassan Bello said it was a paradox that a government agency created to regulate the activities of terminal operators is not in the know about the contractual agreement operators had with government.

He however said the review of the concessioning agreement without the input of the council will be counterproductive for the economy.

Recall that the federal government had appointed Shippers’ Council as port economic regulator.

They are to regulate the cost and efficiency of shipping and other auxiliary services in the sector.

According to Bello, concession agreement is not secret and does not belong to any agency; he argued that the port economic regulator must be mentioned in the agreement.

He said, “It baffles me reason why issues like that (review of port concessioning) should continue without resulting to the economic Regulator (Shippers’ Council) but that is how things happen and we have made protest to the Ministry of Transportation to say whatever happened, the council has never been involved and the worse we got was to observe when we are critical stakeholders.

“We are not happy on the way we are being excluded in critical decisions like port concessioning and some others. I don’t know anything about concession agreement, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has been called observers and when we are the port economic regulator so, whatever happens to that concession agreement affects you and me and every village in Nigeria. So, it should have been opened to contributions of critical stakeholders in Nigeria so that we don’t repeat the mistakes that we had in the past.”

Bello who disclosed that other stakeholders are also excluded in the review process, said the concessioning isn’t an exclusive preserve of any agency of government.

“It’s a paradox that Shippers council is not aware of an agreement it’s to regulate. He continued, “It is a paradox, inexplicable and not justified by any stretch of imagination. it pains me personally that such critical decision of ports is being determined without the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, without contribution from the freight forwarders, consolidators, dock works and other stakeholders.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cannot decide what happens to us in the seaport neither the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE). What competence does the BPE has in port administration?

“Also, the concessioning is not the exclusive reserve of a certain parastatal to determine what happens even without the contribution of the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMOT). So, we have to have a relook, write and advise again that signing of concession agreement and I will write a stronger letter because we cannot allow the future of this country to be decided unilaterally, arbitrarily without consultation.

The Shippers’ Council boss who said the implications of the agreement without the Council is huge on the economy, said legal issues were disregarded in the concessioning review.

“No one knows the implications on the economy and that’s worrisome. And this is an open society and an open society has enemies. Also, we are not running a cult-like sector; so, why will a critical stakeholder like Shippers Council be shielded away and when they are to regulate issues of cost, efficiency and other critical issues.

“In the act that setup Shippers council, it has a role to play an in the port as an economic Regulator and to supervise port concessioning but all these legal issues were disregarded.”

Speaking on the construction of the Lekki deep seaport, Bello said the council was equally excluded from the committee setup to integrate the transport modes in order not to have a repeat of Apapa and Tin-Can Island transport crisis.

According to him, the council if included in the committee will give advice on how the modes will be integrated for better efficiency.

“We are not happy on the way we are being excluded in critical decisions like port concessioning and some others. When I visited the Lekki deep seaport, we talk critically about access to the seaport. We said there must be multimodal approach, we can’t have one mode otherwise it is the same problem that will repeat itself but I think this is being listened to and a committee which Shippers’ Council again is not a member was constituted.

“If included in that committee, we will provide critical suggestions and opinions on how these things should be done and I think the issue of port is being justified to mean something that people should be kept aside from. We won’t keep our mouth shut, we will talk but Lekki seaport is a good project and if handled well, it is critical to the economy.

“Lekki port is a possibility of being the hub we have craved for but we have to look at what other seaports are doing. Lome, Togo, Benin Republic and other deep seaports. We are competing but first of all, we should study and see. We shouldn’t build archaic port that will hurt the economy but modern port that will take cargoes out as soon as they come.

“A port that is served with multimodal evacuation, rail, exclusive road, inland waterway and pipeline. These are what is very critical to survival of the seaports and am sure all these things are being considered even if we are not being considered and we have told them this is extremely critical.”

When contacted, the General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications of the NPA, Engr. Adams Jatto said it is only the Managing Director that can give reasons for the exclusion of the council from the review.

Editing by ‘Biodun Soyele