The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Dr. Pius Akutah, has disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu withheld assent to the Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) Bill due to concerns about its mandate section and the proposed one percent Freight Stabilisation Fee.

Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the visit of the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Arsenio Dominguez, over the weekend in Lagos, Akutah explained that the issues raised have since been addressed and the revised Bill is currently before the National Assembly for review before being resubmitted to the President.

“The NPERA Bill was returned by Mr. President to the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice for advisory due to issues raised over the mandate section of the Bill, the one percent Freight Stabilisation Fee, and the new role of the Shippers Council as the Port Economic Regulator,” he said.

Akutah added that the Shippers Council has since met with the Attorney General of the Federation, and all contentious areas have been clarified to ensure the Bill’s smooth passage and eventual assent.

“Those issues created a little bit of confusion, but that has been resolved because the Gazette of the Presidential Order of 2015 and the regulations of 2015 have all been handed over to the Minister of Justice.

“So, they have now looked at it again to see that the Council mandate has changed by the order of the president appointing the Shipper’s Council as the Port Economic Regulator.

“So, those aspects that needed to be corrected have been corrected, and the bill has gone back to the National Assembly on its way back to Mr. President for assent.

“There was a little bit hitch, but we have overcome that hitch. So, it is now on track heading back to Mr. President. But the National Assembly still has to look at it because of those corrections that were made.

“You can’t correct a bill that has been passed without the National Assembly looking at it. The corrections are not so many, just a few of them regarding the mandate and then regarding the 1 percent freight fee.

“The Bill is still with the National Assembly. You know that they have been on recess. They were supposed to resume last week, but I think they moved it forward.

“As soon as the National Assembly resumes sitting, they will look at this quickly and then do all the corrections and send it back.”

Shedding more light on the corrections done on the NPERA Bill, Akutah explained that, “On mandate, the issue was whether the Council has the mandate to become the Port Economic Regulator. That mandate was given to the Council under the Presidential Order of 2015. This fact was not very well known to the Ministry of Justice at the time when the Bill came back to them.

“Also, the regulations of 2015, which have copiously given the nitty-gritty of what the Port Economic Regulator will do, were also not known at the time when the Bill got to the Ministry. So, the Ministry of Justice called us and we provided all those details to them.

“Then the provision regarding the 1 percent freight stabilisation fee. The provision appeared to be saying that the freight fee was going to be the funding of the agency, whereas it is the revenue to be generated by the agency. So, those corrections have been made,” he said. (The Nation)