NEPC, NIMASA Disagree over 10% Freight Levies

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has said that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has blatantly refused to pay the 10 percent freight levies due to NEPC since 1992.

In swift reaction, NIMASA said the Act establishing the agency did not make provision for any 10 percent freight levies to be paid to NEPC.

The claims and counter-claims by both agencies were made on Monday in Abuja at an investigative hearing organised by the House of Representatives Joint Committees on Commerce, Maritime Safety Education and Administration and Legislative Compliance.

Speaking at the investigative hearing, the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of NEPC, Nonye Ayeni, said that NIMASA refused to pay the 10 percent freight levies due to NEPC.

She stated: “From 1992 NIMASA failed to pay any levies. No efforts to get them to pay the 10% freight levies yielded any fruitful results.

“Former President Muhammadu Buhari ordered them to pay. They never responded. The Attorney General of the Federation also drew the attention of NIMASA to the payment, no compliance.

“We wrote to the Ministry of Finance. We still haven’t received any payment from NIMASA. The Nigerian Export Promotion Council has not been able to perform its statutory responsibilities because it is financially handicapped. So far, only 273 exports have been carried out. NEPC could have done more.”

However, the Executive Director of Finance and Administration, NIMASA, Chidi Ofodile, said NIMASA, as an agency created by an established act of government, was consistently obeying government laws.

He explained that the Act establishing NIMASA did not make provision for any 10 percent freight levies to be paid to NEPC.

Ofodile noted: “NIMASA, during its creation, did not inherit any liability from the Nigerian Maritime Authority (NMA) to be paid to NEPC. NIMASA’s Act is very clear. It does not indicate that any payment should be made to NEPC. Doing so is going against the law. “

He explained further that both NIMASA and NEPC were created by Acts of parliament, and therefore called on the lawmakers to look at the provisions of the law regarding the agencies.

Earlier, lead chairman of the joint committees, Hon. Ahmed Munir, in his opening remarks, said NEPC had been greatly handicapped and unable to perform its statutory duties owing to none remittances of levies spanning decades, attributing this partly to the failure of NIMASA to pay the ten percent freight levies to NEPC.

Also, the Deputy Chairman, Committee on Maritime Safety Education and Administration, Hon. Uduak Odudoh, said there was a need for both NIMASA and NEPC to present their Acts before the lawmakers to be critically examined, since there were perceived inconsistencies expressed by NIMASA.

While other lawmakers advocated that both agencies should seek redress in court for proper interpretation of the Acts of NIMASA and NEPC, Munir urged both agencies to return to the negotiation table in order to resolve the crisis.