21 November 2016, Lagos – The Senate on Monday decried that the concession arrangement for the Nigerian Ports Authority has made the agency a mere landlord that has no legal backing.
President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, while declaring open a public hearing on amendment of the National Inland Water Ways Authority Act and the Nigerian Ports Authority Act organised by the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, lamented that Nigeria was losing huge revenue to inefficiencies in the Nigerian maritime sector.
The Senate President said, “The 8th Senate will take time to create enabling laws for private sector participation and NIWA must be part of Nigeria’s agencies that generates revenues for economic growth.”
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Ahmed Rufai Sani, expressed optimism that the marine transport would be part of Nigeria’s quest for economic recovery.
He said, “With the concession of the port terminals in 2016, the Nigerian Ports Authority is no longer in active participation in the day-to-day running of ports in Nigeria. We will set benchmark and give adequate legal backing.”
Sani also said the proposed amendment would be geared towards huge revenue generation and creation of jobs.
- Punch
