By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The House of Representatives has ordered Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to put on hold the planned disbursement of 700 million dollars fund meant to finance cabotage vessel to companies or individuals.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last year approved the disbursement of the fund to ship owners, an effort targeted at the expansion of the shipping industry.
The Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) was established alongside the Nigerian Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act of 2003, to empower indigenous ship owners to take control of the nation’s coastal and inland shipping business, otherwise known as Cabotage trade.
The House of Representatives halted the release of the fund following the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance by Rep. Henry Nwawuba (PDP-Imo) during plenary in Abuja.
The lawmaker expressed concern that since the establishment of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund, there has been no reliable data to ascertain the total amount that has so far accrued to the Fund.
While querying the actual worth of the fund at the moment, he noted that since establishment of Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund in 2003, there was no record of any Nigerian citizen or company who had benefited from the fund.
The House however directed the Committee on Local Content to engage an external auditor to audit all contracts entered into in the cabotage regime and report same to the House within seven days.
The House urged the NIMASA to present an audited statement of account showing all monies that have accrued to the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund within seven days.
The committee is also to commence immediate investigations into the CVFF to determine all monies that have accrued to the fund since its establishment in 2003 and report to the House within 14 days.
Lawmakers asked the Minister of State for Transport and NIMASA Director-General to report to the House Committee on local content on the state of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund and how the funds have been applied over the past 20 years.
