Ports: Shippers Council to Begin Collection of 1% Freight Stabilisation Fee May, Says Akutah

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AKUTAH AND OTHER MANAGEMENT STAFF AT THE RETREAT..

By Our Reporter

Nigeria’s ports economic regulator, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), has said that it will begin collection of 1% freight stabilisation fee at the seaports effective May, this year.
The Executive Secretary of the Council, Barr Pius Ukeyima Akutah , said the collection of the fee would be in line with the recommendations of the Steve Oronsaye Panel Report on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Agencies, Parastatals and Commissions, which implementation has been approved by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
Akutah disclosed this in Ogun State on Thursday during the opening ceremony of the Council’s 2024 management retreat under the theme “Unlocking the Potentials of the Marine and Blue Economy for Rapid National Economic Development” .
He explained that this was part of the efforts of the Council for self funding as against relying on subvention as recommended by the Oronsaye report.
He added that the collection of the fee is contained in the Council’s Act, adding that the agency has been depending on two percent from the seven percent port development levy, which according to him, has been very difficult because of inadequate finances.
He assured stakeholders, particularly importers and freight forwarders, that the collection of the fee will not add to the cost of doing business at the ports.
Akutah said, “The Oronsaye Panel Report is very clear on what Shippers Council should do, as much as other agencies have been merged together, some were completely disbanded, but the Nigerian Shippers Council under that report is suppose to generate its own revenue and be self funding. It is now, more than ever before that the Council needs to raise its revenue profile.
“The 1% freight stabilisation fee is a statutory funding for the agency, it is in our Act, but over time, the agency have not been able to implement that fee, now is the best time for us to go ahead and implement that.
“The 2% of 7% Port Development Levy which we have been using as source of funding for the Council, we can then leave that, because according to Oronsaye Panel, we are not supposed to be given any subvention.
“Once we achieve our 1% freight stabilisation fee which is statutory, we are not going to be asking for the 2% port development levy anymore, then we can start looking also for other sources of funding which we have responsibilities to fund the national budget and contribute to the national GDP.
“What the Shippers Council would be doing, going forward is to ensure we raise our revenue. Our regulations would be very friendly, they would be economic driven to ensure that we take up the role of a revenue generating agency and ensure that people profit from their investments.
“The Honourable Minister had given us a time frame of two weeks which has expired and we are working hard on it, we are developing a cost benefit analysis so that we can be able to manage our case very well when we talk about this fund, people might think that it would add to the cost of doing business, but actually, if you look at the cost benefit analysis, you would know that it doesn’t add up to the cost of doing business”, according to Daily Trend.
“If we have can achieve our 1% freight stabilisation fee and we begin to have the collection on a daily basis, we would not be waiting for someone at the end of the month to give us a handout to run the Council”