Illegal Charges: Our Case So Far with Shipping Service Providers, By Ports Economic Regulator
LAGOS PORT
By Francis Ugwoke
The celebrated case between the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) and some shipping services providers over illegal charges will soon be sorted out, the Executive Secretary of the ports economic regulator, Mr Emmanuel Jime, has said.
Jime who gave an update when he met members of the League of Maritime Editors and Publishers in his office said the process of the out of court settlement is domiciled in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Ministry of Justice.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari directed that the NSC works with the Office of the AGF and other parties to finally sort out the issue.
He however disclosed that it was not all the parties that took the Council to court that have approached it for out of court settlement, adding that there were still other groups that are still in court with NSC on the matter.
But he added that even among this group, there were some of them who are also seeing the need to engage the NSC in out of court settlement.
On this, he said the Council has been approaching the matter on two legs, stating that while it was in court, it was also
“amenable to out of court settlement and listening to offers that have been made by some of the parties who took us to court”.
He said, “We are now working in the office of the AGF where the process has been domiciled. The President has actually directed that the Office of the AGF should work with us and the other parties in order to finally sort out the issue of out of court settlement. So, we are somewhere near getting that matter sorted out completely. I think it is in the interest of all parties that we have that matter sorted out.
“….It is not all the parties that took us to court that have approached us for out of court settlement. There are still other groups that are still in court with us on that matter. They are in Supreme Court right now.
“ Some of the members are also seeing the need to engage the NSC in out of court settlement. So, we are approaching the matter on two legs, while we are still fighting in court, we are also amenable to out of court settlement and listening to offers that have been made by some of the parties who took us to court”.
The Shipping Line Agencies (SLA) and the Seaport Terminal Operators’ Association of Nigeria (STOAN) had in 2014 dragged the NSC to court challenging some of its regulatory powers after the agency had issued a notice describing some of the shipping charges as illegal and stopping payment.
The Council had won the case in the High and Appeal courts with some of the service providers taking the matter to the Supreme Court.
Incidentally, the charges were being collected as the case went on.
In one of the Court of Appeal judgments , the shipping service providers were directed to refund accruals amounting to over a trillion Naira from the illegal Shipping Lines Agency Charges (SLAC) .
The celebrated case between the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) and some shipping services providers over illegal charges will soon be sorted out, the Executive Secretary of the ports economic regulator, Mr Emmanuel Jime, has said.
Jime who gave an update when he met members of the League of Maritime Editors and Publishers in his office said the process of the out of court settlement is domiciled in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Ministry of Justice.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari directed that the NSC works with the Office of the AGF and other parties to finally sort out the issue.
He however disclosed that it was not all the parties that took the Council to court that have approached it for out of court settlement, adding that there were still other groups that are still in court with NSC on the matter.
But he added that even among this group, there were some of them who are also seeing the need to engage the NSC in out of court settlement.
On this, he said the Council has been approaching the matter on two legs, stating that while it was in court, it was also
“amenable to out of court settlement and listening to offers that have been made by some of the parties who took us to court”.
He said, “We are now working in the office of the AGF where the process has been domiciled. The President has actually directed that the Office of the AGF should work with us and the other parties in order to finally sort out the issue of out of court settlement. So, we are somewhere near getting that matter sorted out completely. I think it is in the interest of all parties that we have that matter sorted out.
“….It is not all the parties that took us to court that have approached us for out of court settlement. There are still other groups that are still in court with us on that matter. They are in Supreme Court right now.
“ Some of the members are also seeing the need to engage the NSC in out of court settlement. So, we are approaching the matter on two legs, while we are still fighting in court, we are also amenable to out of court settlement and listening to offers that have been made by some of the parties who took us to court”.
The Shipping Line Agencies (SLA) and the Seaport Terminal Operators’ Association of Nigeria (STOAN) had in 2014 dragged the NSC to court challenging some of its regulatory powers after the agency had issued a notice describing some of the shipping charges as illegal and stopping payment.
The Council had won the case in the High and Appeal courts with some of the service providers taking the matter to the Supreme Court.
Incidentally, the charges were being collected as the case went on.
In one of the Court of Appeal judgments , the shipping service providers were directed to refund accruals amounting to over a trillion Naira from the illegal Shipping Lines Agency Charges (SLAC) .
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